We know that Mothers Day is approaching. We are looking forward to a time planned to celebrate Mothers Day at our church. It is called, ‘Matching to a “T”’. For fun, those who attend are invited to dress alike with someone else (like twins). It can be friends; sisters; mothers and daughters; grandmas and granddaughters; aunts and nieces or whatever other combination. The idea is to look as nearly the same as possible through dress and jewellery and hairstyle. We used to have twin suppers at summer camp and it was always entertaining to see how much we could look the same as someone else. Mothers and daughters often do look very similar with similar features and similar gestures. In a group of people, it is usually possible to pick out who is related. This family resemblance is to be expected. The influence of a mother on her children is profound. We as followers of Jesus are intended to be affected by His profound influence on us. Our calling is to become more and more like Jesus. In Scripture we read, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…” Do we in the living of our lives remind people of Jesus? Does our attitude and appearance and way of living cause people to conclude that we are like Jesus? This outcome is only possible as we pray and ask God to work this process in us. This will be our expressed desire this week in our prayer time. We will thank God for Moms who introduce their children to Jesus and we will pray that this faith influence will cause people to want to be like Jesus. You can pause for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER tomorrow May 10th at 1 pm.
Praying for all families that we will be loving like Jesus in our relationships with each other, Pastor Lola
Thank You God for the gift of families. We know that every family is different. It has been your design for families to be places to experience love and acceptance and to learn about faith in You. Thank You for mothers who prayed and did not rely on their own capacity to raise us. Thank You for Your answers to those prayers that we continue to experience today. We think of resemblance to mothers and pray that the good and helpful things we learned from our mothers will stay with us always. Thank You God for the courage You give to mothers to persist in teaching important life lessons. We are grateful that as we have learned about faith in You, we have learned to trust Jesus and His influence on our lives. We do want to become more like Jesus. We want our attitude to be the same as that of Jesus. We recognize in Jesus His humility and willingness to serve. This same kind of attitude is often reflected in mothers. We offer our prayers for mothers who give so much of themselves and can at times feel depleted. We pray that you will energize and equip mothers for the essential task they have and trust You that the influence of their love will cause those around them to encounter You and Your love. We think of the impact it has had on us to know that we are loved unconditionally. Our love is imperfect, yet we still strive to love as Jesus loves. Our God these days there is a great deal of pressure on homes and families. We think of mothers who feel like they are moving in several different directions all at once. They are trying to balance multiple responsibilities. Please show us how we can support mothers and families. We know that mothering relationships continue into adulthood. Please guide the changing relationships as younger children become adults. We pray that children at any age will feel at ease to come to parents and to be able to talk over their thoughts and feelings and to know that they are deeply loved. Where there have been family break ups, we pray for those affected and ask for wisdom in navigating a way forward that is respectful and caring. We pray for young parents who are eager to raise their children well and ask that You God will show us how to be available to encourage. And God where there is a need for forgiveness and new beginnings in our families, please make this possible. We do want to see evidence of our resemblance to You and we want others to be able to say honestly that our lives are becoming more like Jesus. We trust You for this in Jesus’ Name. AMEN.