A Mother’s Prayers

If you’re a mother who wonders if God answers prayers for your children, I can testify that He does. It may take hours, days, or years … but God will honor your heartfelt requests. I’ve seen it happen in my own life more than once, and every time it does, I’m humbled.

My two daughters, Brooke and Ana, are 2 ½ years apart in age. When they were wee ones, I prayed over them as they lay curled up in their beds at night. I asked God to watch over them. I still pray for His protection.

As young teens dealing with fluctuating hormones, they fought like most siblings. Sixteen years ago they didn’t have personal cell phones. Many of the arguments were about one getting off the phone so the other one could monopolize it!

I prayed that they’d grow up to become best friends … and you know what? They are. At 27 and 29, they’re still close—even with one now living on the east coast and one living on the west coast.

When their father and I divorced, Ana was a freshman and Brooke was a junior in high school. Since we’d kept our “problems” quiet, both girls were angry and confused. Life could have unraveled even further. They might never have forgiven me, and I could have lost them. But, I trusted the relationships and love we had for each other and a God who loved all three of us. He didn’t let me down. There was healing, and what we have today is even stronger.

Brooke is an actress who has worked hard at her craft. In the entertainment industry, just as it is for writers, it’s difficult to break in. While living in Seattle, she paid her dues and found her place in the theater community here. But two years ago, her husband accepted a job transfer to New York. They were both thrilled, but although NYC is the place to be for actors, it meant starting all over again—sometimes attending more than one audition in a day.  I prayed that opportunities would open up, and God answered. Later this year, she’ll leave on a national tour for eight months playing the oldest daughter in a production of Fiddler on the Roof. God is good!

Most recently God has honored my prayers for Ana.

Through life’s challenges and struggles, instead of turning away from God like she could have, she sought and drew closer to Him.

One of her heart’s desires was to find someone to share her life with, but it seemed the harder she looked, the more she experienced disappointment. Some of the young men who pursued her weren’t the men they presented themselves to be. My heart ached as her hopes rose, only to be hurt again.

I couldn’t fix it for her … I could only offer encouragement and prayer. And I did pray. For God to send the right man for her—someone who would cherish her as she deserved. Someone who was a man of God and who would provide spiritual leadership in the home.

Ana met Shawn through mutual friends at their church. They later realized that they both had signed up to go on a mission trip and spent months training for the adventure. In July, 2010, they traveled with a team to South Africa where they shared their testimonies in churches, played with children, visited homes, and assisted with HIV-Aids testing. Soon after they returned, they admitted to being interested in more than friendship and began spending a lot of time together.

Since then, our families have enjoyed time together. The first time I met Shawn’s mother, we stood in my kitchen observing the couple. It was so obvious that they were meant for each other. His mother shared with me that she had prayed for years for the right woman to come into his life, and as I explained that I, too, had prayed for someone for Ana, we both teared up, knowing that God had answered the prayers of two mothers.

Ana and Shawn recently got engaged. Their families and friends are celebrating with them even before the wedding. We’re convinced that God brought them together.

The waiting and the heartaches have been explained. The past relationships weren’t right. God wanted them to wait until He could provide the best for them.

I look at them, and I know … God honors a mother’s prayer.

Don’t ever stop praying for your children. He hears you … and He’ll answer.

Dawn