Inspiring Women...

Recently at a prayer meeting I was in a small prayer group with my close friend and two older ladies. Admittedly my first choice of 'prayer partners' would have been my close friends but having these two women proved to be a real blessing. Both of these women are mothers and wives and it was incredible being prayed for by them.

Straight away they volunteered to pray for me and began laying their hands on me. It was amazing! They prayed with such conviction, power and expectation that I felt ashamed to have been so passive and faithless. Their prayers over me were so full of love and anticipation that I was taken unawares and God really met with me. They spoke into my life with wisdom and full of caring hearts that I felt privileged to be prayed for by them.

It highlighted to me their importance within the church family and how crucial they are to its growth and character. It is so easy to look up to those in the spotlight, but its the mothers and the wives that have brought up families and been steadfast wives throughout the years that I want to give praise to today.

These women put me to shame with their seemingly boundless faith and their high levels of expectations; their age and past experiences haven't made them cynical or faithless, rather it has made them more full of faith. And there I was 20 years their junior struggling to be expectant at all. It's women like that, that I aspire to be like; the women that have fought long battles, been strongholds during storms and have stood steadfast through it all to come out the other side as strong women of God; warriors ready to fight and full of faith on God's adventure.

They deserve honouring.

I want to be a warrior as they are; to bring up a united family, that loves and serves one another, to have a strong marriage that can take the unpredictability of life, to be prayerful and in that be expectant and full of faith and no matter what the past has been like to look forward to the future and be constantly in love with God.

Today this blog is for you, you incredible women of God. I aspire to someday be as priceless as you are, for you truly are a rarity.

Job (1)...

Whilst talking with a friend the other day we both came to the rather sorry conclusion that whilst back in our hometown our relationships with God become a little more static. We have so much time on our hands and yet instead of using it to pray or read the Bible etc we spend it aimlessly watching films or sleeping! I realised that I hadn't read my Bible in quite a while and therefore set about changing that unfortunate fact.

Since the Mobilise conference I've been thinking about reading Job, now I wondered about whether reading something perhaps a little easier; something less challenging, something that I knew really well and could easily get through within a few days. Admittedly it was a stupid attitude to have and I started Job despite my initial reservations and I am so glad I did...I haven't been able to put it down! It's an amazing book and I wish I had shown more enthusiasm for it!

I find it incredible how Job handles his loss and pain but also how He speaks to God. He doesn't hold back. He is not shy or reserved before His God and thinking about it why should he be? After all God knows His thoughts and feelings, so why should he suppress them and pretend? God is our Father, our comforter, maker and friend so why hold back when all He wants is to be involved in every aspect of our lives and have a deep relationship with us. Job is admittedly foolish in some of the things that he accuses God of, but it is undoubtedly immensely accurate to the human emotion. He expresses questions and anger at God that we all at some point have done. What makes it more interesting is that His friends try to talk sense into him but he refuses to listen and continues his ranting towards God, desperately waiting for an answer.

I'm up to chapter 26 and God still hasn't answered and Job is still moaning. It's amazing reading how such a Godly man is struggling to accept all that has come his way and how he openly argues with God. It makes me realise how silly we are to argue with God but also how it is our human nature to question God. It is simply amazing that God doesn't just destroy us when we complain, but He takes it on and listens and listens and listens. There will be more on Job as I read on!