There’s No Girl Power, Only God Power!

My mom enjoyed “spiritualized” quips and puns, and it was not uncommon to hear one spill from the tip of her tongue at any given time. One that I remember her saying more than once was “Seven days without prayer makes one weak!” Candice Watters, speaker at our Spring Women’s Conference this past March, talked about fruitfulness in our lives. In her last session, she emphasized the importance of daily, consistent prayer. Not just the platitudes that we sometimes find ourselves uttering, but up close and personal conversations with our Creator, our Savior, our Father. Celeste Clydesdale wrote a song titled “I Love You” in the children’s musical “Father Knows Best” some years ago. The song has a phrase that is pretty powerful in its simplicity. “…Call me Father, call me Abba, call me Daddy too, ‘cause I love you.”

A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Too often, perhaps partly in our respect for, but more notably, in our lack of consistent, daily communing with our Heavenly Father, our prayer life is more ritualistic or pragmatic than personal. I remember once, as a young teenager, I was having a melt-down one morning getting ready for school. I was just having a “terrible, horrible, no good very bad day,” and Australia was out of the question, since that delightful children’s book had not yet been written. I was trying to comb my tangled hair in front of the bathroom mirror, crying – in a panicked sort of way, worried I was going to be late for school. My dad came into the room, folded me into his arms and began praying aloud for me. I don’t remember the words, but I immediately began to have a peace in my heart, and was able to regain composure. Satan thought he had found a kink in my armor, but my dad’s prayer was like Matthew 8:26b “…[Jesus] rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was great calm.” We often underestimate the power of prayer, or lack the faith to follow the commands in His Word to pray. I Thessalonians 5:17 says to “pray continually;” Philippians 4:6: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (NIV); Ephesians 6:18: “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” (NIV)

“Prayer is for fruit bearing”
Candice immersed the entire conference in Scripture, and in our final session, challenged us to pray scripture with boldness so that our lives would bear spiritual fruit. John Piper wrote: “Prayer is for fruit bearing.” James 4 tells us we can ask anything when we abide in Christ. When we are not knowledgeable of God’s Word, then we rob ourselves of the many truths that give us freedom to converse with Him in our prayer life. In our third breakout small group session at the conference, we discussed how sometimes we think and treat God as our butler or therapist in a prayer life that is in vain. Lest we forget, we must often remind ourselves that “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises,… , make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I Peter 5:3-8 (NIV)

In his Mother’s Day message on May 11, Dr. Cook talked about the many opportunities for prayer that we miss out on. Often times, “life” gets in the way, and if we don’t consciously think of the “hidden opportunities,” we may get through an entire day with little time spent in fellowship with Him. Waiting in the car-pool line, changing out the laundry, loading and unloading the dishwasher, driving to the grocery store, standing at the gas pump, and don’t forget those interminable minutes waiting at the red lights! These are opportunities to commune with God, and when we know the scriptures, the added bonus is our ability to pray boldly to our Father, our “Daddy” who is ever present. “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” Isaiah 55:6 (NIV)

Since young children, my two sisters and I have sung a song that addresses our need for daily, intentional prayer.
I asked the Lord to come to me, when I was going astray.
He said to me, “I will come to you, and take your sins away.”
I asked the Lord to walk with me, when darkness was all that I knew.
He said to me, “Just believe my Word, for I will see you through.”
…He’ll come to you if you ask Him to, He’s only a prayer away.
(Lange Duncan, 1955)

“Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:13-16 (NIV)

There is no Girl-Power, Only God-Power
Did you have the privilege of attending the ladies conference? If so, perhaps the following challenges have touched you in a thoughtful and meaningful way in becoming fruitful in many areas in your life. You may wish to reflect again, and savor on the following, taken from Candice’s outline , and my feverish notes as she was speaking. As women, we were challenged to:

bear the fruits of the spirit (Gal. 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, meekness, etc.);
be fruitful in the body (Eph. 4:11-13: “don’t go to church as a consumer.”);
be fruitful in the gospel (John 4:35-38);
be fruitful stewards (Romans 11:36; Psalm 24:1);
be fruitful in our marriage (Psalm 128:2-3);
be fruitful in our families (Psalm 127:3 “Children are a heritage from the Lord;” “Budgets are for everything but babies – Babies are wealth!”);
be fruitful in trials and sufferings (2 Corinthians 1: 3-7: “…my weakness is for His glory”);
be fruitful in old age (Psalm 92:14: “past our ‘sell-by’ date”);
be fruitful in our stewardship (Matthew 25:14; “only Christ can fulfill us”).

Candice challenged us to be fruitful in our prayer life. Her plethora of scripture verses helped emphasize that we can be fruitful in our prayer life and that we can pray boldly when we pray scripture. She shared with us a quote from The Gospel Primer. “When we feast on Christ, our hunger for sin diminishes.” And she encouraged us when she said “There is no girl power, only God Power!

-Karen Sizemore

This is the fifth and final post in a series of five blog posts that will recap the 2014 Women’s Conference: Fruitfulness: A Life Connected to the Vine. If you’d like to listen to the audio recordings of all the Conference sessions, you can access them here.

Karen Oldham Sizemore was a PK for 21 years, was born again as a teen, was a multi-move military wife for 24 years, has lived the civilian life since 1994, and is now a senior citizen. (You can do the math.) She is the mother of 2 grown sons, has been a member of NAOBC for 12 years, and has loved directing children’s choirs for 40+ years.