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Prayers at a Glance

Feelings of Inadequacy

A Household of Faith

A Baby Dedication

That She Would Believe

A Crooked Generation

The Next Generation

For Those Who Still Wait

 
Web Sites

www.angelathomas.com

Thomas Nelson

 
Books

Prayers for the Mother to be
(Thomas Nelson, 2003)

Prayers for Mothers of Newborns
(Thomas Nelson, 2005)

 
BOOK EXCERPTS

Prayers for Expectant Mothers

By Angela Thomas


CBN.com Below is just a smattering of what you will find in Angela's book Prayers for the Mother to be.

Feelings of Inadequacy

Dear God of Abundance,

You know my fears even before I speak them, but still, I lay them before You. I am overwhelmed by how much I don’t know, and I feel wholly inadequate for the task of parenting.

I have read the books and watched the videos until my mind is fuzzy from information overload. I’m not sure what’s right. Do babies sleep on their backs or is it their sides? Should I nurse every three hours or on demand? Pacifier or no pacifier? Cloth or disposable? Strollers? Car seats? Bath time? Everyone has an incredibly detailed opinion.

I see moms who try too hard and stress out everyone around them. I fear that could be me—trying in vain to be a germ freak. A safety monitor. A nutritionist. A pseudo-pediatrician. A makeshift child psychologist. It’s scary. In my inadequacy, I could become consumed with perfection for my baby. Please stop me before I start. I want to be a balanced mother, with peaceful children and a tranquil home. I know these things are by-products of grace and mercy and rest. I surrender all my misguided efforts and confess that I am totally dependent on You.

Speak deeply into my spirit; mentoring my decisions, teaching me to be a mother. I rest in Your assurance to provide beyond what I can give. I take heart in knowing that Your knowledge is complete. I can quit worrying because You promise to be what I can’t. Because confidence is mine through Christ and because You are more than adequate in all things, I pray in Your great name.

Amen

Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God.
—2 Corinthians 3:5 nasb


Used by permission. Excerpted from Prayers for the Mother to Be by Angela Thomas (Thomas Nelson Publishers, Copyright 2003).


A Household of Faith

God of Joshua,

A new baby. A bigger family. The tribe is increasing, and we are thrilled. A new person will surely make our home seem more like a haven, a place to replenish and rest. Lord, teach us how to graciously say to the world, "As a family, we choose to serve the Lord."

Lord, I pray for a peaceful place for this sweet baby to grow up. From her tender first days, I pray that she will know that she is treasured. When she’s older, help us to make her friends feel welcome and loved. Around this table, let us pray with the hurting and the doubting, and those who would come to know You as Savior. Bless us with laughter—roof-raising laughter. Holidays full of tradition and memories. Sleepovers with lots of kids. Big suppers. A guest room that’s rarely empty. A routine that brings security. Let ours be a household of faith.

I know that my temperament and heart will play a huge role in setting the tone for our family. And so I ask . . . please start with me. Fashion Your servant into a godly woman and mother. Give me spiritual health and a thirst for truth—a secure foundation on which to build our faithful house.

Remind us each day that our time with this baby will be precious and brief. I pray that when she is grown, she will take our heritage, continue the legacy, and serve You with all faithfulness. Because of Your indwelling, may our family be known as a household of faith.

Amen

Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . . But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.
—Joshua 24:14–15


Used by permission. Excerpted from Prayers for the Mother to Be by Angela Thomas (Thomas Nelson Publishers, Copyright 2003).


A Baby Dedication

Dear Lord of Life,

Even before birth, and the first breaths of life, I dedicate our baby to You. I want her to be wholly consecrated and set aside for You.

As parents, we commit to raise this new one in righteousness and grace. We will love each other deeply. We will speak of You, and pray to You, and look to You in our home. We will fellowship with other believers and introduce this baby to Your disciples. We will treasure Your Word and give it honor. We will seek out and welcome the lost. We will forgive and ask for forgiveness. We will practice kindness. We will love the poor and abandoned. We will live under the covering of grace. We will give away the grace we’ve received. We will fear You as Almighty and trust You as Savior.

We come with uncertainties, sin, and shortcomings—all the things that could keep us from trying. When we lose our way or fail in our efforts, remind us to run toward the cross. Not on our own, but by Your strength, we commit to be godly parents.

We intentionally lay our treasure before You; returning the gift You have given. We know that Your goodness is greater than ours. We trust in Your wisdom more than our own. We have faith in You, not ourselves.

With reverence and devotion, we dedicate our child-yet-unseen to You; the Lord God Almighty; Wondrous and Awesome; Esteemed and Adored. May this sweet one honor You all the days of her life. By grace, You will make us parents, and from grace, we pray in Your name.

Amen

From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
—Psalm 22:10

I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.
—1 Samuel 1:27–28


Used by permission. Excerpted from Prayers for the Mother to Be by Angela Thomas (Thomas Nelson Publishers, Copyright 2003).


That She Would Believe

Jesus,

I know that my baby will learn about Your plan of redemption in her first few years. We will tell her the story as soon as she can understand. She will hear about it at church and at home, but it will be You who bring salvation. Son of God, I pray that our child will come to know You personally at an early age. Please don’t let her tender years be wasted apart from You.

Help us to build a home that will undergird her learning, where the life we live matches the truth of Your Word. Oh God, we pray that she would see Jesus in her parents. May we reflect the love that You have given. May we give her the grace we have received. May she come to know You as Savior, because she sees You in us.

I can’t imagine the world she will grow up in or the obstacles she will face on the playground. I don’t know the challenges she will encounter at school. But I do know one thing for sure. She will grow up strong and grounded, if You live in her heart.

She’s not even here yet, but my spirit is already burdened to pray for her. Remind me again and again that the first place she will see You is in me. Bring me to greater maturity so that I’ll look more and more like You; less and less like me. Help me to give like You, serve like You, forgive like You, and love like You. Give me Your passions to instill and Your disciplines to model. Until she believes, I will pray.

Amen

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
—John 3:16–17


Used by permission. Excerpted from Prayers for the Mother to Be by Angela Thomas (Thomas Nelson Publishers, Copyright 2003).


A Crooked Generation

Father,

I walked through the mall today and found myself staring. I noticed a group of teenagers wearing dark, eerie clothing and sporting incredibly weird hair, tattoos, and body jewelry. They were smoking cigarettes and cursing with amazing proficiency. I began to think about the possibility that my child might choose a wrong path.

Father, I know that the world we live in can be a scary place. Our child will be confronted with decisions every day—choices that will impact her life and the lives of all those who love her. For Your own purposes, You have allowed it to be so. You have called us to be in the world, but not of the world. When Jesus prayed for His disciples, He didn’t pray for them to be removed from the earth. He prayed that they would be protected. In a dark and dying place, You have called us to shine like the stars of the universe.

So, I pray that You will protect my sweet baby. I ask that our family, our instruction, and our guidance will teach her how to live wisely. I pray that she will turn from the things that displease You and make decisions that will bring You honor. I pray that her life will bear the imprint of Your truth, and that You will guard her heart, mind, and body. Please keep her from the things that could rob her precious life.

Even before she arrives, I entrust her life and her future to You. I ask these things in the name of Him who faced all evil and lived victoriously, Jesus my Lord.

Amen

So that you may become . . . children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.
—Philippians 2:15

I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.
—John 17:14–15


Used by permission. Excerpted from Prayers for the Mother to Be by Angela Thomas (Thomas Nelson Publishers, Copyright 2003).


The Next Generation

Dear Maker of All,

My doctor’s waiting room is full of mothers-to-be—women who are carrying my baby’s peers. I pray a special blessing for these who will be birthing the next generation. Their sons and daughters will make life-changing decisions and discoveries. Their children will conceive and establish the communities where my baby will live. My child will join theirs in filling the earth.

The demeanor of each mother hints at her disposition. Some are calm and pensive. Others seem stressed and already exhausted. The first-timers stare in awe at the mothers whose laps are full of children. And the mothers with children don’t even seem to notice they’re pregnant again. We all seem relatively composed, considering the feat we will soon perform and the life change it will bring.

Lord, I wonder if these women realize that childbirth is by Your design? Do they understand that Your very presence abides in their wombs, creating life? Will they recognize the image of God in the faces of their babies? Oh Father, I pray for these women, that at this incredibly special time, their hearts will be tender toward Your truth. Maybe pregnancy could be the catalyst that moves them to consider their Creator.

God, I pray that the reality of Your existence would impact these mothers, radically changing the way they will raise their children. Let our children know a world where more people serve You. Let godliness increase where selfishness has failed.

It is a privilege to be fruitful and multiply. It is a privilege to bear the next generation. It is a privilege to call You God.

Amen

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

—Genesis 1:27–28 nasb


Used by permission. Excerpted from Prayers for the Mother to Be by Angela Thomas (Thomas Nelson Publishers, Copyright 2003).


For Those Who Still Wait

Giver of Life,

My heart is burdened today for my friends who cannot have children. Like Hannah, they have spent years praying and grieving for a child who never comes. They are frazzled—worn out by doctors, books, specialists, drugs, and procedures. Many even dread seeing their families, weary of their sympathetic looks and tired of the same conversation. I grieve for my sisters and long for them to experience the wonder of new life growing and flourishing within their bodies.

Lord, give me tender compassion when I’m with them. I find myself talking about anything but pregnancy, overcompensating, understating the obvious, hoping I won’t say something hurtful. Even so, I think it hurts them just to be with me. I know some women who can’t go to baby showers or visit their friends with babies because their hearts are too raw and their pain too intense. I mourn for their hurt and pray for their healing.

Most of all, I ask that You would hear their prayers. Remember them. And grant them the answers they seek. After many years, You remembered Hannah and opened her womb. Please see my friends in their lament and answer their pleas for children. Let them rejoice with Hannah, who said in 1 Samuel 1:27, "I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him."

Thank You, Father, for watching over those who wait. I believe in the sufficiency of Your grace. I trust in the perfection of Your will. Because You bring life to the barren, there is power in my prayer.

Amen

In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the Lord.
—1 Samuel 1:10

He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the Lord.
—Psalm 113:9


Excerpted from Prayers for the Mother to Be by Angela Thomas. Copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson Publishers.

 

 

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