3 Steps towards Daily Faith: A Mama’s Guide
Being a parent is tough, y’all. Especially a Christian parent trying living out that faith daily with our littles.
There we are right in the thick of God’s work in us when we’re handed this beautiful baby complete with all the expectations and responsibilities that come with him or her.
That was so intense for me.
I was no where near ready to be a spiritual example. Even though I had loved Christ for a long time I still felt like I was a beginner. A newb. Sure, I knew some great scripture and I was more than ready for #momlife, but it was still hard walking the talk of my faith daily.
Talking about God wasn’t the hard part for me, but what many of you with littles already know is they watch you before they hear you. Frankly, even when they hear you, they’re still watching you first. I’ve learned all too well that if you’re not practicing what you preach they’ll notice, and they’ll become little copies of your most self-righteous self.
All they need is a little push telling them it’s ok to fight for themselves, and they will go crazy with it. I’m not talking about the times when it’s appropriate either. I’m talking about the stingy factor that’s in us all – the “fight for me” attitude that’s hard to escape.
Our word tells us in Phil. 1:6 to “be confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” He’s still working in me – in all of us. I’m not coming from a place of perfection with this list. It’s more like from a place of my own struggles. This is my daily battle plan towards living my faith, and I pray it helps you.
Step 1: Prayer
Praying with and over our babes can seem like one of the most basic steps. I remember once I had asked my husband to be more of a spiritual leader (yikes). It had come from a place of stress and annoyance. I was overwhelmed by the spiritual responsibilities that I felt towards my children. My husband was working constantly and I felt like all the spiritual growth and study was put in my lap, and I, desperate to get him involved, asked him, “What are some ways that we could be better at leading our children?”.
After about 3 or 4 days I asked what he’d thought of. And do you know what he said?
He said that we could pray with them.
And do you know what I thought?….
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.
Of all the research and information that’s at your fingertips, you’re grand discovery is that we should pray with them?!
It was too simple. I felt like zero effort had been put into the decision, and that I was back at square one where it all fell on me. I was aggravated.
But I was wrong.
What I had shrugged at for being too simple was perfect for that very reason. Prayer is an excellent way to begin living in faith daily. Sometimes, I think, as Christians grow and become so immerse into church life and mission work we can forget the baby steps that brought us here. Start. With. Prayer. God is there with open arms wanting you, and wanting to be apart of you. And He loves you enough to wait for you. Just like that first conversation with a soon-to-be friend prayer is the spark, the beginning of your relationship with Jesus.
Prayer allows us to expose ourselves, to humble ourselves, and to reach out to God in a way like no other. There is almost nothing more important than to teach our children to first pray.
During my morning worship time I like to listen to Life.church. The senior pastor there, Craig Groeschel, once said, “We impress people through our strengths, but we connect through our weaknesses and brokenness.” Prayer loosens us up for these connections.
It allows our children to see our imperfections. Prayers teaches our babes that even we, as parents, fall under the authority of the Lord. Most importantly though, prayer reveals His almighty grace. The grace that we can expect from our loving God, and the grace that our children should expect from us.
If there’s time for nothing else, make time to pray.
Although being in the word of God is priceless sometimes a prayer book can give you and your littles some direction when you’re feeling like you don’t know where to begin. Below are a few that might be helpful for your family.
Step 2: Worship & Study
Whenever you’re a parent those feelings of spiritual responsibility can be overwhelming. Like me, at the beginning of this post. I’m sure many of you ask yourselves these same types of questions, “How can I be a better example?” or “Am I doing my best?” or perhaps more often “What am I doing wrong?”. We want our kids to know the love of Christ and even if we are soo feeling it ourselves, how do we reveal it to them?
Mama, God wants you to be an inspirational parent, but to be able to be all that and a bag of chips for your kiddos you need to spend time with Him. You can’t draw from an empty well, and if you’re not filling up your spirit daily you’ll have nothing to give.
I understand that time can be hard to come by as a mama, but I’m sure that if you dissect your day you’ll find 10-15 minutes that you can spare for Him. It’s a real-talk moment with yourself that we all have to have. One where we recognize that we already make time for meaningless things so why can’t we find time to worship?
For real, I get it. Those meaningless things are often tied to the ways that we decompress, zone out, and lose ourselves for a few moments. And girl, those are essential, but our worship time is our breath. It is among the air, water, and food necessities of life, and when we are starved for it we lash out just as we would without the others.
And likewise one may grow accustomed to not having enough yet we’re never unaware of the missing piece. Our brains may get confused which can lead to a misinterpretation of the hole that’s in us, but when we’re fed we see the truth.
I worship during playtime. I let the kids have some adult-free time in their rooms, and I spend time with God. It may be in prayer, watching a service, reading the bible, or listening to music. I’m intentional and jot things down (usually on my fridge! ?) that inspire me as I go.
Since making this daily faith a commitment my heart has changed. I look the same and I’m still me, but there’s a peace that’s washed over me dulling life’s stresses. I see problems that I had before and questions that have remained unanswered, but I have still waters inside. Through my worship and study God has revealed to me a calmer way to be.
Let your new craving for worship time flood into your kids lives. Kids are great worshippers. They feel at home with you and I bet they’d love some fun worship time. You could have a dance party, sing loud in the car, or make a yummy food that ties into a bible story! It doesn’t have to be perfect, mama, just have fun.
Step 3: Practice
It’s not only satisfying to our souls to worship and to be in the word of God, but it’s also good practice. God has given us beautiful examples of triumphs and tribulations. He can mend a weary heart with His words or put a flame in the heart of the indifferent. To me, reading the Bible is like getting advice from family (you know the one’s that you trust) saying, “This is what I did…don’t do it like that.” or “See how it’s done?”.
If being a follower of Christ had a 1,2,3 punch it would be as simple as these 3 steps. Simple, yes, but maybe not necessarily easy or convenient. Putting our faith into practice means walking the talk. Jesus tells us to love. We know this, but do we show this? We’re told to be kind, giving, faithful, honest, and to consider others.
But what does that even look like?
Thomas Edison said, “Opportunity is often missed by most people because it’s dressed in overalls and looks a lot like work.” and while I’m sure Mr. Edison didn’t mean spiritual opportunity I think it applies all the same.
There are opportunities presented to us everyday to make holy choices. However, if you’re waiting for that perfect situation where there’s plenty of time, and confidence, and peace, and everything has fallen into it’s perfect place, well, you might just be waiting for a while. And chances are that you’ve missed about a million opportunities in the meantime. Unfortunately, opportunities to walk in daily faith tend to show up unannounced. They are not penciled in, and they usually take up precious time.
Think about it, you could…
-Write a thank you card.
-Send a note to someone homebound or better yet a care package to go with it.
-Skip the good spot in parking lot, and walk a little. It’s ok if a spritely teen pops out of their car as you’re walking by. Even young people need a day where things go right.
-Pay for someone’s food behind you.
-Don’t say that zinger that will secure your win in the argument.
-Listen to your kids.
-In fact, listening more than you talk seems to be good practice in general. (James 1:19)
These are just some of the ways that you can practice showing your faith daily. If you’ll notice all of these require a gift from you – time, money, pride. As followers of Jesus, we recognize that Christ gave the ultimate gift. We choose to follow in His loving footsteps, and continue to give.
To do honor to our faith it is not enough to profess with our mouths. WE are the body. WE are the hands and feet of our Lord. Our actions in the name of Christ are meant to build up. It certainly is a daily choice to live in Christ requiring daily effort.
“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” 1 Thess. 5:11
But it’s hard sometimes. I know as well as most how difficult it can be to turn the other cheek, especially in the beginning of your faith journey, when anger so easily fills you up and then gives you the opportunity for revenge. Or when your passive nature tells you that someone else will come along or do it better so why try. Why put yourself out when someone else will?
These are licks straight off of Satan’s tongue encouraging your dependence on instant gratification and self. Jesus says do for others while Satan whispers do for you.
It’s crucial to understand that each choice that you make defines you. Intentional or not. This can be heavy when it hits, but the fact is, you’re already making choices. We just have to decide to be intentional and work at it…and then work at it some more. It was described by a pastor whose name I can’t remember (I’ll update when I find out!) that is it more comparable to think of God’s approach to our falls like that of a father to his newly toddling babe. A few good steps, and down he goes. Does the father hate the babe for not walking right away? You know he doesn’t. This is a beautiful representation of God’s love. He knows our potential, but He also knows where we’re at in our spiritual life and development. And praise Jesus for a God that has shown us all what patience really is.
I hope these words have been an encouragement to your mama heart and that they might help you in your walk with Christ. It’s a daily battle out there, but the more that we pray, worship, study, and practice the less room we allow the enemy to work. We are the daughters of Christ fighting together against the evil in this world that’s trying to attack our families, and our help comes from the Lord.
“…Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1-2
Disclaimer: This post contains some affiliate links. This means that if you click on the links and purchase the items, I will receive a small affiliate commission at zero cost to you. All of the opinions on this post are my own.
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