*Jan is like many moms I know. She home schools her 2 boys and is trying to figure out how to best occupy her very active 2-year old girl when school is in session. She is also a follower of Christ. We attend the same local church, but I don’t know her that well and don’t always have an opportunity to talk with her. Today, God put her in my path. She shared with me that for a long time now, she has had a burden for children with special needs. Before she married, she worked with such children in the educational field. She thought that God would one day give her a child with special needs … that perhaps, all the training and experience she received were to be used for her own child. That was not God’s plan.

But, the burden to serve in that very specific way is still there. So, she prays. She told me she has prayed for Gabriel. She was one of the women who reached out to me on that eventful “Picture Day” a few weeks ago (click here for that story). She also prays for the few other families in our church who are going through the challenges of raising a child with special needs. It is no small thing that she prays for us, and perhaps, it is in God’s plan to entrust her with more.

What encouraged me about this woman is that she is praying. She is communing with God about these desires that He has given her. We can often have a thought about helping someone or filling a need, but we don’t proceed further. We don’t inquire of The Lord. We don’t step out in obedience.

Perhaps we don’t know if something is truly God’s will for us. We have desires, but we wonder if those desires are from The Lord. Let me encourage you. Doing nothing accomplishes nothing. Start with prayer.

“When God aims to do a great work, the first thing he harnesses is the power of prayer. He starts by planting the spark of desire in a few hearts. Then through prayer he fans it into a flame. Then the flame of desire and faith spreads to others. Soon large numbers are on their knees imploring the great work. Then God acts. Then he pours down his blessing. God loves to do great works of redemption. But even more he loves to do it in answer to prayer.” — John Piper, “We Have Not Because We Ask Not“

(Photo credit: ☻☺)
*Note: Names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.