The Joy of Being Mom Devotional by Judy Brisky releases April 22nd! In this 60-day devotional, Judy invites you to join her as she dives into the heart of motherhood and finds inspiration from God’s Word. To celebrate, we are sharing a free excerpt from the book. You can purchase The Joy of Being Mom Devotional at this link.

Praying When It’s Hard

Answer me when I call to you,
my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress; (Psalm 4:1, NIV)

Praying builds our trust in God regardless of whether our requests are answered in the way we would like for them to be. Our trust comes from moments spent in His presence. Pouring out our heart’s needs, desires, hurts, and joys gives us an opportunity to connect with our heavenly Father. These times of prayer allow us to empty our souls to Him, but what’s even better is that when we make time to pray and listen, the miraculous can happen.

When Joel, our second son, was four years old, he started having leg pain. It wasn’t a regular occurrence, and we thought it was “growing pains.” When he started having the pain more regularly, we scheduled an appointment to see the doctor. A check-up led to x-rays, which showed a spot on Joel’s hip. An MRI was scheduled, and although we were concerned, Mike and I prayed that God would heal anything that might be wrong. When the MRI results came in, our doctor called with the good news. All was well. He went on to say that he had thought Joel had cancer, and he believed we had received a miracle. We agreed. Mike and I were thrilled and grateful that the Lord had healed our son.

Fast forward to our fifth child. We were excited to learn that we were having another baby. Our sons went with us on the day we were scheduled to find out if we were having a boy or girl. The doctor quickly said it was a girl, but our joy was short-lived. After having the nurse take our sons out of the room, he told us that he could see that our baby had numerous health issues. He talked. I cried. It was shocking to hear that our girl would likely die before she entered the world.

We had faced possible bad news before with our son, so we were determined to fight on our knees for our Danielle. (That’s what we named her—Michaela Danielle. We called her Dani.) I didn’t pray any differently for Dani than I had for Joel years before. Both times I was on my knees crying out to God. Many others interceded on our behalf, too. However, Dani’s story ended differently. Our baby girl passed away after living with us for just over two months.

Although the outcome was not what we’d hoped for, she had surpassed what the doctors had told us. She was a miracle, and we were grateful to have had her with us even for a short time. Losing our Dani was probably the most difficult and painful time in my life, but it was also the most precious time in my relationship with God. I learned to trust Him completely.

Trusting Him doesn’t mean I understood what happened. It simply means that I chose to trust Him no matter the outcome. For me, trusting God means giving up my desire to understand most things. One thing I do understand, though, is that God loves me, and He cares for me and my family. That’s enough. Actually, it’s more than enough.

LET’S PRAY

Father, thank You that having Your love is more than enough. In the most trying circumstances, knowing that You love me has been the sweetest thing in my life. When my prayers are answered the way I would like, I have learned to trust You. When my prayers are not answered the way I would like, I have also learned to trust You. My entire life is about trusting You, and my prayer life has served to help me trust You more, regardless of any outcome. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

ACTIVITY

Make a list of the things your family is praying for this season. This will allow your husband and children to join in prayer with you and with each other. Rejoice together when a prayer is answered. Thank the Lord for His strength when a prayer isn’t answered in the way you would have preferred. In every outcome, praise the Lord for always listening to, always caring for, and always loving you.