Janessa Shyda

Tag: Life Application

  • New Favorite Verse to Pray Over my Toddlers Daily

    New Favorite Verse to Pray Over my Toddlers Daily

    In my most recent posts I have explained when I started praying for my children and how we incorporate prayer into our daily life.

    While I would say I’ve developed a good habit of praying for my children, my prayers sometimes feel repetitive. Though they are still powerful and God hears them, I strive to know Scripture well so I can more consistently pray Scripture over my children, because I know those are the truest words I can bless them with—and that pleases the Lord.

    I was reading Psalm 5 today and was FLOORED about how I can pray it over my boys.

    But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
        will enter your house.
    I will bow down toward your holy temple
        in the fear of you.
    8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
        because of my enemies;
        make your way straight before me.

    9 For there is no truth in their mouth;
        their inmost self is destruction;
    their throat is an open grave;
        they flatter with their tongue.
    10 Make them bear their guilt, O God;
        let them fall by their own counsels;
    because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
        for they have rebelled against you.

    11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
        let them ever sing for joy,
    and spread your protection over them,
        that those who love your name may exult in you.
    12 For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
        you cover him with favor as with a shield.     – Psalm 5:7-12 (ESV)

    This verse contains so many phrases that left me in awe—they are perfect and so beautiful to pray over children. I feel like any believing mother or father would naturally want to use this passage to pray over their son or daughter—it’s a no-brainer.

    How to Pray This Verse Over Children

    Obviously my children don’t have enemies like David is referencing in the passage above so my prayer wouldn’t necessarily feature how David declares the fate of his enemies. Here is what my prayer is for my boys. This is an example of praying Scripture over your children:

    Lord, I just pray the sons you blessed me with recognize the abundance of your steadfast love — that they will be led in your righteousness, and that your path is made straight before them. May they not stray from the way you have laid out for them.

    May they take refuge in you and rejoice. May they sing for joy and worship you daily, through all the years of their lives.

    Lord, please spread your protection over them. Please cover them with the shield that is your favor.

    I will continue to share and update you all on some of my favorite verses that I lean on when praying over my boys, but this one moved me so much today that I had to share it. I wrote the verse down in my prayer journal, read it with my oldest, and now I’m writing to reflect on how the Lord granted me the privilege of coming across this Psalm today.

  • The Armor of God: How Women Can Apply This Verse to Their Life

    The Armor of God: How Women Can Apply This Verse to Their Life

    Armor. Swords. Helmets. Warfare. All things not typically associated with being a young woman, wife, and/or a mother. But the fact of the matter is, spiritual warfare is happening and we need the armor of God to remain strong and righteous. So, what is the armor of God exactly?

    10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. – Ephesians 6:10-17 NIV

    This verse is the foundation for the mission of this space: Using the Sword of the Spirit to Steward Daily Life Well.

    I chose the Sword specifically because the Word of God, the Bible, is literally the basis to my household’s values, the foundation to my faith and is quite literally God-breathed. Without the Word, I would simply be standing on sifting sand. How I find joy would be dependent on the day’s circumstances.

    Without God’s Word I am vulnerable to all kinds of temptation from the Enemy as Ephesians 6 clearly says, but I know for me specifically I am at risk of giving in to anger and frustration if I don’t have the Word of God on my heart to tame my tongue and actions. Whether a child is misbehaving, ‘my plan’ for the day is unexpectedly altered, or something doesn’t go right at work, I have no excuse to act on anger and frustration. Here’s an example of how I use the Sword of the Spirit to combat anger. If the Sword is the Word of God then I need a verse that is God’s Truth, the only Truth, to engrain into my heart and mind when I am tempted to act on anger.

    I cling to this verse:

    26 “In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. “ – Ephesians 4:26-27 NIV

    It’s important to note that being angry isn’t a sin. It’s acting on it: yelling, using harsh words, being impatient, lacking self-control, being aggressive instead of gentle – basically anything that contradicts the Fruits of the Spirit is a sin. We will talk about the Fruits of the Spirit in next week’s post.

    Not being in the Word would leave me making decisions based on the “knowledge” of man and that is simply not knowledge at all.

    “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10 NIV

    I hope this post encourages you to study God’s Word more in order to better steward the gifts of speech, time, your household, your community, and more.