By LESLIE LUDY
Our son Hudson is named after the great missionary to China, Hudson Taylor. Hudson Taylor is one of our spiritual heroes, and we desire our son to follow in his footsteps of tenacious faith and unwavering devotion to Christ. But many years before Hudson Taylor became the father of evangelical missions, he was a wayward teen with no real interest in God. His mother was greatly burdened for the eternal salvation of her son. She began to labor diligently in prayer on his behalf, asking God to radically rescue his soul. One day, when she was away from home staying with a friend, she felt especially pressed to wrestle in prayer for Hudson. She knelt by her bed, and determined not to rise from the spot until she was confident that her son’s soul had been won for Christ. Hour after hour she pleaded for Hudson, until at last she could pray no longer, but knew in her heart that the victory had been gained. Christ’s Spirit made it clear to her that her son had come into the kingdom of God that very day.
Upon her arrival home several days later, Hudson met her at the door to tell her the joyful news that he had given his life to Christ the very same afternoon she had wrestled for him in prayer. The tireless prayers of this faithful mother helped shape one of the greatest spiritual heroes this world has ever known, leading to the salvation of countless lost souls and giving thousands a heart and passion for foreign missions.
I am convinced a mother can change the world through faithfully praying for her children – and countless mothers, like Hudson Taylor’s, already have. But we cannot learn how to fight large-scale battles in prayer until we have practiced on the small, everyday challenges we face in raising our children. God’s Word exhorts us to “pray without ceasing,” and being a mother provides plenty of opportunities to petition the throne of heaven daily, hourly, and moment-by-moment. It might seem silly to pray intensely about mundane child-raising issues such as potty training, binkie-weaning, table manners, and sleep patterns. But this is our training ground.
If we learn how to take everything to God in prayer, knowing that He cares about every detail of our children’s lives, we will begin to notice His faithfulness day by day. As a result, we will be made strong in faith and spiritually ready for the bigger battles ahead.
No matter what challenge we face in our parenting, if we as mothers put these words into action, we will begin to see mighty miracles in our children’s lives. Jesus sees every sparrow that falls, He knows the number of hairs on our child’s head, and He cares about them – far more than we ever could. No issue is ever too small or too big to take to our God in prayer!