(This post was written by Michael Wallace, High School Pastor)

This phrase has taken on a new meaning for me in the last week, and if you are a parent, this scenario may sound all too familiar to you.

Our adult small group meets on Sunday nights, and we have the great blessing of two consistent babysitters to watch the total of 14 children that make up our group’s families.  It is incredible to be able to enjoy our group time without worrying about kids that range from 1 month to 12 years constantly needing our attention.  However, occasionally our awesome babysitters are unavailable…last week was this rare exception.

As we neared the end of our time we took requests and began to pray.  But instead of a reverent and focused time of communication with God about half of the adults’ attention was divided to essentially wrestle the restless toddlers who had remained in the room with us.  I began to notice that as each person prayed, the child in their arms made it increasingly difficult for them to keep a consistent flow of thoughts.

I had never seen a more honest picture of prayer warriors.  As we fought to keep our focus on prayer, we had to press on through distractions and avoid being derailed by the very children we were praying for.  While in this instance the struggle was physical and tangible, it reminded me of the reality that we all face when it comes to developing consistent communication with God.  Especially as parents we run the risk of missing the intimacy of a relationship with Him by allowing ourselves to be pulled away from prayer.  However, it is the very thing that will give us the power and ability to bring up our kids to want that same relationship.

What do you do to attain or maintain a “warrior” status when it comes to prayer?
How do you strategically take your requests to God for family, friends, etc?
How do you model your prayer life for your children?