Women’s Christian Conferences are a chance for me to refresh and reconnect to the Lord without the everyday distractions of life. It’s a time where I can literally focus 100% on the Bible and prayer with other women. During every conference I’ve ever attended, I’ve always left with at least one new friend and a pile of scripture nuggets & observations to study further.
Last year, I was blessed to attend the Connecting Ministries, Connecting Women Conference in Birmingham, AL. I actually blogged about a Prayer Warrior that the Lord specifically told me to engage with while I was at the conference. Prayer Warriors
Fast forward to this year’s Connecting Women’s Conference. That Prayer Warrior and her mom sat right next to me!
You see, that appointment with God last year has led to my front row seat to watching this Prayer Warrior grow into her new role of leadership for the Kingdom. She went from a non-volunteer-volunteer on the prayer team last year, to the prayer team leader this year. She went from receiving daily prayer request emails before the conference to crafting them this year. She went from praying faithfully privately to praying on the stage this year. She went from a quiet prayer warrior to a bold and public prayer warrior.
Normally, I would take that as the significant observation and “take away” from this weekend.
But there was one other observation about this Prayer Warrior that is significant….
The Prayer Warrior was with her mother!
They sat side by side. They prayed together and with others. They raised their arms in worship together. They wept and laughed together. They illustrated family worship in a very precious way.
In Matthew 22 and in Deuteronomy 6, we see that Jesus highlighted the most important commandment in the Bible. He said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise’” (Deuteronomy 6:5-7 ESV).
Interestingly enough, as soon as Jesus answers the question of the Great Commandment, God focuses our attention on family life. He speaks specifically to parents on how to pass along the power of faith to children. At the heart of the Great Commandment is family discipleship…how parents are a primary spiritual teacher for their children.
Now I don’t know the Prayer Warrior and her mother enough to know their entire backstory. I don’t know when they came to know the Lord and what their trials and tribulations have been. I don’t know if this is a relationship where the mother taught the daughter about God or if it happened in reverse.
I’ll tell you what I do know:
I know these two women love the Lord. I know they love each other fiercely. I know they love other women. I know they model the behavior of Christian love. I know it was an absolute joy to watch them interact with one another and watch a Christ-focused relationship between a mom and her daughter. I know it was a beautiful thing to watch.
I am honored to have watched this faithful sister in Christ grow in her prayer life and step into a leadership role for God over this last year.
I am humbled to have watched a mother and daughter praise God side-by-side over this last weekend.
I am grateful to a loving Father who outlined family discipleship and allowed me to witness how it works in 2019.
Watch for the Prayer Warriors. Watch for the Family Disciples.
~Emily
P.S. Mark your calendar to join us Feb 21-22, 2020 at the Connecting Women’s Conference to see how the Lord is going to move in the next 12 months…
Iron Porch 