My Prayers For You

"Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, 'children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.' Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life." Philippians 2:14-16a

I pray for you, Grady Lee, Micah, and Annalyse, that you surrender your heart to God fully. That you choose the inconvenient things in life if it means obedience to Truth. That you engage with people around you and demonstrate with your life that you are not your own and have total freedom because of absolute surrender.

"The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7b

Grady Lee, Micah, and Annalyse, hear me clearly. Your intelligence doesn't matter. Your athleticism doesn't matter. Your artistic abilities don't matter. The amount of money you earn one day doesn't matter. How many people know you and like you and approve of you doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is this: a heart fully devoted to God and surrendered to his will. When you choose to live your life in the center of God's will you will be immovable and unshakable until God is finished with his purposes for you. Your standard of success will be measured against your faithfulness to God and his truth. When you love him fully and follow him always you will understand excellence and you will experience freedom.

"He is the one [I] proclaim, admonishing and teaching [you] with all wisdom, so that [I] may present [you] fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me." Colossians 1: 28-29 (adapted)

I have the joy of shepherding you, my three precious ones, to know, love, and serve Jesus. This won't happen by accident. It's not up to circumstances. I'm not relying on teachers and friends. God has asked me to own the task. He has asked me to embrace it fully and engage with you intentionally. My time with you is mere minutes in the scheme of God's greater plans for you. I'm committed to making sure those minutes clearly show you our desperate need for Jesus, our great privilege to know him, and our great joy in serving him.

"Hear, [my children]: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. [I strive to impress them upon you.] Talk about them when [we] sit at home and when [we] walk along the road, when [we] lie down and when [we] get up. Deuteronomy 6:407 (adapted)

Grady Lee, Micah, and Annalyse, the success of your future and the success of your families one day is dependent on choosing now to live life under God's Lordship. Every detail of how we do life must rest in obedience to him. How we laugh, how we talk, how we learn, how we relate, how we give, how we work, how we serve - it's all important. There is no detail in our lives that we can separate from God's Lordship.