Category: Mama Bear

Don’t Worry Mama Bear, Pray
Mama Bear

Don’t Worry Mama Bear, Pray

DeVonne WhiteLeave a comment

I have heard it said many times that when you have your first child, it’s as if your heart came out of your chest and started walking around.  Sit around a table with a group of mothers and you will see that those words are true.

Mama Bears tend to worry and before we know it we have a list of them that has no end. Worry is a tricky thing, it starts small, and it can keep growing within us until we are almost smothered by it.

There are some boo-boos that we can kiss and make better, and there are some that are completely out of our control.

Maybe some of these sound familiar to you –

  • Are they eating well?
  • Sleeping well?
  • Are they happy?
  • Do they have friends?
  • Do I like their friends?
  • Do they like their teachers?
  • Do their teachers like them?
  • Are they studying enough?
  • Applying themselves enough?
  • Can I trust them?
  • Are they friendly and kind?
  • If they are moody, why are they moody?
  • Are they leaders or followers?
  • What are they wearing?
  • When is the last time they washed their hair? Brushed their hair?
  • Is their walk with the Lord strong enough?
  • Have I failed them in any way?
  • Do they lie to me?
  • Are they depressed?
  • Before we know it boyfriends, girlfriends, college, careers, spouses, marriage and gasp! grandchildren (a whole new generation to worry about) come into the picture and the list continues to grow.
Your list of worries will have no end, Mama Bear,
unless you put an end to it.
The only way is to take your worries and turn them into prayers

The power to do just that, lies within you. When you purpose to live your life according to this scripture, refusing to live in worry and fear, choosing to live in prayer and peace.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

Mama Bear Arrow

Do not be anxious, worried, fearful

about anything, any one thing, to any degree

but in every, any, each situation

by prayer, communion with God and petition, ask

with thanksgiving, gratitude, appreciation

present, show, give your requests to God.

Then the peace, unity, calmness of God

which transcends, rises above all of your understanding

will guard and protect your heart, the center of who you are

as well as your mind and your thoughts, as they are hidden and protected in

Christ Jesus.

Prayer is our secret weapon against fear and anxiety, God beckons us to come to Him and pour out our hearts on behalf of our children.

Arise, cry out in the night,
    as the watches of the night begin;
pour out your heart like water
    in the presence of the Lord.
Lift up your hands to him
    for the lives of your children
 Lamentations 2:19

Don’t Worry Mama Bear, Pray. 

Prayer Retreat Church Flyer (3)

Wondering where all his Mama Bear talk is coming from?  You can find that post here Mama Bear

 

Praying for Your Child With

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When Your Child is Facing Rejection
Mama Bear

When Your Child is Facing Rejection

DeVonne WhiteLeave a comment

Rejection is plain awful and it comes with an arsenal of emotions. It can leave one feeling cast aside, discarded, dumped, forgotten, forsaken, lonely, desolate and comfortless, the list is heartbreaking and long.

Most of us have felt rejected at some point in our lives, and to watch your child walk through it can be just as painful. You know those moments, they are swinging alone on the play ground while the other kids play, sitting home on a Friday night when everyone else is invited to the party, or they come home crying from school because no one talks to them.

The worst rejection of all is when it comes from someone they love, be it a parent, grandparent, brother or sister, boyfriend or girlfriend. Rejection whittles away at the confidence of even the most confident. Nothing riles up a Mama Bear more than seeing others reject the cub she loves.

There may be a season in your child’s life when Jesus is their only friend, but what a friend He is. The thing about Jesus is He knows the pain of being utterly rejected by those He loved, served and came to save. He was rejected by His family, friends, community and He even felt rejected by His Father. In the darkness of rejection, take your child’s hand and purpose to lead them to Jesus.

We find Peter encouraging Christ followers to face rejection as Jesus would. Peter had seen the character of Jesus first hand, and this verse shows a beautiful picture of how Jesus resisted the temptation to lash out, not an easy thing to do. As Jesus followers we and our children are called to this standard as well, and it is necessary to step up if we want to see the character of Jesus grow within them and within ourselves.

Mama Bears Lead By Example

love arrow

When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

1 Peter 2: 23

When they hurled, threw or flung without care

Their insults, verbal abuse, or slander at him,

He (Jesus) did not retaliate, return or seek revenge

When He suffered, endured and agonized

He made no threats, inflicted no pain

Instead, in place of, rather than

He entrusted, committed, put himself in to the care of

Him (God the Father) who judges justly, honestly and fairly.

Praying for Your Child With

Rejection can make a Mama feel powerless, and everything within you will want to retaliate, threaten and do some yelling. We cannot change how other people treat our child, but God can. He will hear and move powerfully as we pray. You can count on it!

A Prayer for Your Child

Father, I ask that when ___________ has insults hurled at him/her, that ____________ will not retaliate. You see ___________ suffering in all of this, help him/her to make no threats to others. Instead, help __________ to entrust himself/herself to You, resting in the truth that You, Lord will judge justly, honestly and fairly. Amen

A Prayer for you Mama Bear

Father, I pray over this Mama Bear, that you will help her to set a Godly example before her children. When insults are hurled at her child, give her wisdom to not retaliate. Remind her that You too, see her child’s suffering, help her to make no threats to others. Instead, teach her to entrust her child to You, resting in the truth that You Lord, are a just Judge. Amen

Love,

Mama Bear

When Your Child Is Struggling to Believe
Mama Bear

When Your Child Is Struggling to Believe

DeVonne WhiteLeave a comment

As we step into this Holy Week, a week of remembering all that our Savior, Jesus endured for us, my greatest hope is that my children have a firm belief in Jesus and His sacrificial gift of salvation for them.

To believe in something is to accept something as true, to feel sure of something or to have faith, but not all of us praying Mama Bears have children who have chosen to believe by faith that Jesus is their Savior, yet.

They may be very young and have not made a choice at all,  maybe they once believed and have now chosen not to, or have completely rejected the idea of Jesus as their Savior.  Don’t grow weary dear Mama, yet, may be just around the corner.

Nothing breaks a Mama Bear’s heart more, and it can feel like we have been waiting and praying forever.  The truth is, just as we by faith chose Jesus, so must they.  As much as we would like to choose for them, I see all of you mama bears nodding your heads,  sadly as much as we want to we cannot.  The choice to believe is theirs alone.

Do not fret Mama Bear, at times it may not feel like it, but we have the greatest influence in our children’s lives .  Our children big and small are watching us all of the time.  We must purpose to reflect our belief in Jesus, in our attitudes, our words, how we live and  how we pray.

Let’s take a look in to a man that many would have thought was a hopeless case, a guy who would have never accepted Jesus.

Paul not only started out as an unbeliever, he hunted down followers of Jesus and killed them.  Even so, Jesus loved Paul too much to let him go on in life without Him.  Jesus planned an encounter with Paul and Paul was never the same again.

If you are a Mama Bear and your child seems far from Jesus, maybe not in the Paul category, but still far, far away.  Find comfort in this, Jesus loves your Baby Bear far too much to let he or she go on without Him,  He is planning an encounter.  

After Paul’s encounter with Jesus, he became a passionate Jesus Follower and these were his words to people who were struggling to believe.

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 

Romans 10: 9-10

If you confess, declare, acknowledge with your mouth the Lord Jesus 

And believe, accept as true, feel sure about,

have confidence in your heart, your soul, the central part of who you are 

That God has raised, lifted out, pulled up Jesus from the dead

You will be saved, freed, released, rescued 

For with the heart, 

one believes, affirms, concludes and trusts

Is made right by justice through Jesus 

And with your mouth confess, declare your faith, you are saved

 

Praying for Your Child With

Let us pray with a renewed power, passion and purpose the words of Paul, a passionate Jesus follower,  over unbelieving children today.

 

Father, I ask that _______ confess with his/her mouth and believe in his/her heart that God raised Jesus from the dead.  May  ______ be reminded today that Jesus has saved, freed and rescued him/her.  When __________ believes this with his/her heart he/she will be made right through the justice of Jesus and if _________will confess and declare his/her faith in Jesus,  ___________ will know His salvation.  Amen 

A prayer for you, Mama Bear 

Lord , I pray over this Mama Bear, that she confess with her mouth and believe in her heart that God raised Jesus from the dead.  That she will be reminded today that Jesus has saved, freed and rescued her, that she will believe and trust in her heart that she has been made right through the justice of Jesus.  I ask that she take every opportunity with her children to declare her faith in Jesus, that she and her family will know His salvation.  Amen 

Love,

Mama Bear

 

 

Mama Bear
Mama Bear

Mama Bear

DeVonne White2 Comments

I don’t remember when it began, when my youngest son began to refer to me as Mama Bear. It always warmed my heart, but it was only recently that I have embraced it.

In my husband’s words, “I am a fierce mother”, and for so long I fought that idea.  I longed to be the mother with the quiet, gentle spirit.  Honestly, that is just not who I am.

This led me to a little research project on Mama Bears and this is what I found.

Mama Bears are affectionate, protective, devoted, strict, sensitive and attentive with their young.  Not sounding so bad now is it?

Bear cubs are born weighing in at just under one pound and are completely blind, they are utterly dependent upon their mama.  She spends about eighteen months nurturing, weaning and teaching her cubs.

She must stick to her task, by the end of the short eighteen months, she is aggressively pushing them out to live on their own.  It will be time for her to mate again and male bears pose a huge threat to her cubs.  She pushes them out into a life of their own, not because it is the easy thing to do, but because it is what is best.

line.jpgMama Bears press through the hard things

Not because it’s easy, because it’s best

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I began to think back, wondering where did I pick up this mentality?

Was it instinct?  Something I read?  Something that was taught to me?

Maybe a little of all three.

If I had to put my finger on one thing I would say I found my passion for mothering, in prayer.  It was the place where I could be honest about my children and myself.

I could celebrate them without feeling prideful
I could complain about them without feeling guilty
I could weep over them, and God would bring comfort
I could wonder and hope over their futures

All the messiness of our lives would pour out.  I was free to be real and honest,  because I was talking to the One who loved them more than I.  The One who sent His Son, Jesus to die, for them, for me, for all.  His passion, stirred mine.

When my first son headed off to kindergarten I joined a little group of other Mama Bears,  each week we lifted our children and their school up in prayer.  My passion skyrocketed, not for just my own kids, but for all of God’s kids, big and small.

Through this group I not only prayed my words, but I learned to pray God’s words, His promises back to Him.  My boys are 22 and 25 and I’m still praying God’s Word over and into their lives.

I have found that in every situation that I am praying over,  rather it is for our family or for other friends and family, God’s ancient and holy scriptures are still relevent today, I promise you.

Recently our youngest son was going though a stressful trial at college.  His an anxiety and mine were through the roof.  Our step by step plan was way out of step, and he and I had many sleepless nights where I cried,  yelled and  stomped as I prayed for him.

Once I finished my little temper tantrums, and I had several. I did mention that I do not have a quiet and gentle spirit, right?  I went to the place where I knew God’s purpose in all of this would be, His Word.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition,with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  Philippians 4:6 

Before I pray a scripture I walk myself through it. I want to write it on my heart and understand it in my mind.

Don’t be anxious, afraid, distressed or fearful
About Anything, any one thing, any thing at all 
But in every, any, each and every, situation
By prayer, plea, appeal and petition 
With Thanksgiving, gratitude, gratefulness 
Present, bring, offer or give your requests to God. 
Philippians 4:6

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If you have a child who is struggling with anxiety place their name within God’s Words, God’s Promises.   I promise that you will feel the power and purpose of God’s Word falling all over your baby bear.

A Prayer for Your Child 

Father, I thank you that __________ does not have to be anxious or distressed about anything, not any one thing.  Help ____________ in each and every situation to pray and appeal to You, with a heart of thanksgiving and gratefulness, teach __________ to present, offer his/her requests to You. Amen.  

A Prayer for you fellow Mama Bear 

Father, I thank you for this Mama Bear’s heart.  I thank you that she does not have to be  anxious or distressed about anything, not any one thing.  Help her in each and every situation to pray and appeal to You, with a heart of thanksgiving and gratefulness, teach her to present, offer her requests to You. Amen   

Now, I would love to tell you that every thing worked out in my baby bear’s favor, it did not.  His goal and plans have been delayed, in the weeks that have passed I can say that the reasons for this delay have become a bit clearer.  Very often on this walk with God, He takes us on the long road, He is more about the journey and His work within us,  than our end goal or agenda.  One thing I know for sure, neither of our hearts are anxious any longer.

If you are in the place of being a Lone Ranger Mama Bear and you are longing to find other Mama Bears to connect and pray with I know the perfect place Moms In Prayer

Moms-in-Prayer

They are all over the world.  Set your misconceptions and fears aside, join hands and hearts with other Mama Bears you will be forever grateful that you did!

Here on the blog you will begin to see scripture prayers that you can pray over your children and yourself, just look for the Mama Bear Category.  Again, no matter what challenge comes along  in their life or yours, you will find peace, comfort, power and purpose in God’s Word.

Love,

Mama Bear