This phrase is from the story of the Shunammite woman whose son was raised from the dead. As Americans celebrate Mother’s Day, the watch focus this week is for godly mothers. Passing through the city of Shunem, a godly woman from the tribe of Issachar persuaded Elisha to stay in her house. She added to her home to make room. Through the word of Elisha, the previously barren woman had a son. “And the child grew. Now it happened one day that he went out to his father, to the reapers.  And he said to his father, ‘My head, my head!’ So he said to a servant, ‘Take him to his mother,’” (2 Kings 4:18-19). The boy died in harvest time, usually the time of abundant life and rejoicing. When crisis hit her house and hard times came on the nation, the woman from Shunem “understood the times and seasons” and “knew what to do.” A seven-year famine ravaged the land. The Shunammite determined, “It shall be well (shalom).” This was a declaration of faith, and she acted on it! The Shunammite’s immovable faith sustained and directed her and her family when everything else was shaking.

Proverbs hails the influence of God-fearing women, wives, and mothers. We pray for every mother. We ask forgiveness for aborting and neglecting our children. We petition the King of glory for restoration and increase of godly women and their influence in our lives, families, and society. We pray, “Restore our inheritance in Judeo-Christian foundations, valuing life and honoring honorable women in every aspect of our society.”

Jeremiah 31: “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” Thus says the Lord: “Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope in your future, says the Lord, that your children shall come back to their own border.”

We pray for restoration and increase of fruitful, biblical, covenant marriages. We pray, “Come Holy Spirit! Fall on a new generation of sons and daughters uniting in blessed unions becoming godly fathers and mothers of children who serve You.”

Psalm 144:12-15  That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as pillars, sculptured in palace style; that our barns may be full, supplying all kinds of produce; that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields; that our oxen may be well laden; that there be no breaking in or going out; that there be no outcry in our streets. Happy are the people who are in such a state; happy are the people whose God is the Lord!

Proverbs 31: Open your mouth for the speechless, in the cause of all who are appointed to die. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy. Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her; so he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax, and willingly works with her hands. She is like the merchant ships, she brings her food from afar. She also rises while it is yet night, and provides food for her household, and a portion for her maidservants. She considers a field and buys it; from her profits she plants a vineyard. She girds herself with strength, and strengthens her arms. She perceives that her merchandise is good, and her lamp does not go out by night. She stretches out her hands to the distaff, and her hand holds the spindle. She extends her hand to the poor, yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household is clothed with scarlet. She makes tapestry for herself; her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her husband is known in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies sashes for the merchants. Strength and honor are her clothing; she shall rejoice in time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness. She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:  “Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all.” Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.

We pray for the city of Jerusalem. Paul calls the heavenly Jerusalem “our mother.” There is a biblical corollary between Jerusalem and mothers that stems from the Queen Regent tradition begun under Solomon. When Bathsheba sought audience with her son, “the king rose up to meet her and bowed down to her, and sat down on his throne and had a throne set for the king’s mother; so she sat at his right hand.” Solomon’s reign installed kings’ mothers as co-regents. Their names are recorded with their sons. Their thrones sat side by side. The kings and their co-regents of the Shunammite’s time were disasters. Joram and Jezebel in Israel. Ahaziah and Athaliah in Judah. Both kingdoms were under threat from without and in conflict within. We pray for Jerusalem and her children to return to the Lord. We ask for protection from every assault of the enemy. We pray for wisdom and the fear of the Lord for her rulers. We pray a release from every ungodly covenant that binds Israel’s hands to other kings. We pray for abundant supply of defenses necessary to protect her citizens from harm. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Isaiah 62:5-7 “For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent, and give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.”

Galatians 4:26-27 “but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren, you who do not bear! Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children than she who has a husband.”

Revelation 21:2-3 “Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.””

God sets His throne in Jerusalem with His church at His side as co-regent. We pray for sweeping revival reform in the church. We encourage you to get a copy of our book, Make Room for Your Miracle, inspired by the Shunammite’s story. 
 

Watch Focus - “Take him to his mother…” 2 Kings 4:19 This phrase is from the story of the Shunammite woman whose son was raised from the dead. As Americans celebrate Mother’s Day, the watch focus this week is for godly mothers.

Watch Focus - CHAOS to COSMOS: Campuses, Courts, and Country Christ is greater than chaos.

Watch Focus - MOED: “the SET TIME” God has a calendar. On it He has certain set times particular to His divine purpose.

Watch Focus - The Stability of Your Times “Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, the strength of salvation; the fear of the Lord is his treasure,” Isaiah 33:6.