21 Days of Prayer for Sons - Joy (Day 10)

Carlo - Joyful in the House of Prayer!

There are plenty of times when I plead with Jesus to urge Holy Spirit grow fruit of Joy within me. (He is the great intercessor, after all.) Those times of frustration, irritation, brokenness all resolve when I remember "The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him" from Psalm 28:7. I will praise Him! My strength and peace and love in the face of ugliness comes from the Joy of the Lord!

You've heard the expressions "Love is a choice," well I truly believe that Joy is a choice too.  In those sleep-deprived early months with your son, you choose to take joy in his beauty and purity. In the wild toddler times of tantrums and two-million questions, you choose to take joy in his growth and wonder. In the tough years of discipline and training, you choose to take joy in the man God is growing him into.

So, this morning, when I had to struggle to get out of the house with my 4 youngest, appropriate clothing, hair and teeth brushed, shoes matching and tied, I really didn't want to go to the prayer room. I chose joy as we went to a back room with a couple other kids for a short teaching to prepare us for the time in the Children's Prayer Watch - in the midst of a hundred distractions. I chose God and I chose to take joy in Him and my children and the other children there. And guess what?

God chose to bring His JOY too!

As Brooke wrote in the Leader's Guide for this prayer challenge, "So how do I find joy and strength from the Lord? Enough to make me 'burst out in songs of thanksgiving?' How do you? Here's the secret: Focus on Christ. Focus on what He did for you (and for your sons) on the cross." Trust in Jesus Christ's work of grace on the cross to get you through those rough days with your kids. Trust Him to hear and answer when you pray for Him to turn their hearts of stone into hearts of flesh.

He hears and brings His Joy to you!

Joy

May the joy of the Lord be__________strength (Nehemiah 8:10) 

May__________be filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22)

May__________go out in joy and be led forth in peace (Isaiah 55:12) 

May the God of hope fill__________with all joy and peace as he trusts in him, so that he may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13) 

May__________go to the altar of God, to God, his joy and his delight (Psalm 43:4) 

May__________count it all joy when he meets trials of various kinds, as the testing of his faith produces steadfastness. May he let steadfastness have its full effect, that he may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:1-4)

May__________know that while weeping may tarry for the night, joy comes with the morning (Psalm 30:5)

May__________be imitators of us and of the Lord (1 Thessalonians 1:6) 

May the God of hope fill__________with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit He may abound in hope (Romans 15:13) 

May__________know that the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17)