It starts with prayer—it did for me, anyway.

Last year, a friend of mine and I started praying for direction with our teen daughters. We saw more was needed to sow God’s love into their lives.

She and I began by praying, desiring God’s guidance and will.

God sees every person and situation with absolute clarity making him the most trustworthy guide.

Out of those prayers for our teenagers, we began a bible study. Last year met weekly, a little ambitious without much planning time. This year, in prayer again, we switched things up to capture our hope for them as they step into adulthood.

This is what our bridge into adulthood goals were and are:

To love God’s word.

To always serve.

To intentionally gather and eat together, mini celebrations of relationships throughout the year.

We meet three times a month to do the above the best we can.

Once a month, we gather to study God’s word.

Once a month, we gather to serve together at a local food bank.

Once a month, we gather our families for a barbeque.

What I have learned from teens:

The fewer words, the better. This is a season to ask questions and listen. It is hard to stop giving advice all the time. (Where did this know-it-all come from? Oh—right—parenthood.)

Encourage and guide gently. Use words to encourage and right a wrong where needed.

Welcome them with love and joy. They can pick up on a bad mood just like we can, so let it all go and embrace the gathering.

Teens have a unique pressure upon them that will be lifted soon enough, but they can’t yet comprehend the end of this process.

What I have learned about teens from God —in no particular order.

Keep engaging. Don’t give up, no matter what.

They are intimidated by life and the pending responsibility of adulthood.

Don’t be put off by a strong pushback. In other words, don’t take offense.

Pray and pray again.

Engage with a humble heart.

What can you do for teens in your City?

Pray first. (I bet you saw that coming. 😊)

There are many creative ways to serve teens in your own town.

Is there a youth group at your church? Do they need an extra hand? Are they planning a summer camp you can help with or provide a scholarship for?

Is there a youth program in your City where you can volunteer?

When you’re running your errands, can you smile at the teens in the stores? (One of my kids experienced adults actually frowning at her once she got older and were still grocery shopped together.)

Once you start praying for the teens in your City, you will notice more and more of them. A smile and a kind word can do some much for them. Even if they don’t know how to respond, keep it up! It isn’t about what you get back but what you plant in them.

God, help us see the teens in our City the way you do. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Do you know some issues facing teens in your City?

I am convinced prayer leads to action.

First, in the heavenly realm. God can answer the prayers or start a ball rolling here on earth, encouraging people to take action and create provisions for the requests.

Second, in the person praying. When a person prays, they see they can be that answer to prayer or help in some small way.

Prayer brings something to the one praying, peace—when done right—

Peace between you and God.

Peace between you and your City.

Peace within yourself.

Announcement!

I have added a visual on my website that you can see from a PC or Laptop. It shows you my up-to-date progress on my devotional about praying for your City. I hope you find it helpful.

Until next week, keep Walking on Mustard Seeds,

Michele Marie Weisman

PS My teen approves of this message.

PSS If you like this blog post, will you share it with one friend?

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Romans 11:29

Photo by Laurentiu Iordache on Unsplash (eggs)

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash (post-its)

Photo by J W on Unsplash (coverage)

Photo by Hoover Tung on Unsplash (electrified city)

This being the first week of the month, I take this time to share the ideas behind the devotional I am writing.

Update

I have turned a corner in my book and see a finish-line approaching … of writing the book, not publishing it. Yet. Writing is a long process.

On with the blog…

God began pestering me about nine years ago to pray for the City my family lived in. The daily headlines were disturbing because crime and violence were on the rise.

Eating at me were the negative comments end of the news feeds. I am sure you have seen them, too, people tearing down their fellow citizens being reported about. These rebuffs of the news articles held no help.

God continued to tell me to pray over that City as I felt helpless in my prayers and over the negative tumbling of words on the news feeds.

Sticks and stones

Words do hurt. Do you remember the old saying … “your words will never hurt me.” This is contrary to the word of God. There is a verse about the tongue – or in this case, the pen, bringing much damage to others. And another comparing our words to honey. Compassion, love, and truth are what we are called to speak and, thus, to write.

The comments on social media and online news pages were stirring more harm. It was not a balm to anyone’s wound.

An invitation

Inviting others to pray with me over that City, Two or Three was birthed, and we prayed weekly for six years.

Until my family moved out of state, bringing us miles and miles away from that City. As I continued to write the devotional, I wanted to do more in our new City. I needed to dig deeper into God’s word to live as God asks us to live in our Communities.

The New

What would that new and more be? City Council Meetings.

Scripture asks us to be involved where we live, and this seemed like a great way to do more.

Full disclosure, my husband and I do not attend each meeting. Our schedule does not allow for that. But our City Council Meetings are recorded on YouTube. This way, I am able to watch it when my schedule allows. In all honesty, it is a better experience to attend in person.

If you do attend in person, there is time before and after the meeting to meet Council members and your neighbors who are attending. It is a golden opportunity to meet your neighbors.

Perspective

There were a few things I wanted to accomplish in attending my first meetings.

1. To see how the meetings are run. It was quite orderly and civil. They open with prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag, and the Pledge to the Texas flag. My husband and I had no previous knowledge there was a Texas flag pledge, but we thought it was pretty cool.

2. I wanted to get an understanding of what issues were for neighbors. Boy, oh boy, people have strong opinions. From license plate readers, Airbnb’s, and I have even heard people voice strongly against the deer. (We love the deer, and thank God they are protected by the state of Texas.) Although I may not hold the same opinions as my fellow citizens, I can see why these are actually complicated issues. Except for the deer. God bless the deer. 😊

3. Who attends the meetings? It is a small number of people who attend, and I find them to be very interesting, thought-provoking citizens.

My husband and I have lived in this community for over two years. During that time, we have had the opportunity to vote for new City Council members and even the Mayor. It is an awesome process, and I hope would be in agreement that we care about our community.

Your Turn

Do you attend your local City Council Meetings? Have you ever served on your City Council?

Prayer

Will you pray for those who serve on your City Council?

Prayer Pro Tip

Pop onto your City website and learn a few of the City Council members’ names.

God, help us not to hide our light under the roof of our houses. May we exit our doors to gather, in peace, with those making decisions about where we live. Amen

Publishing News

THIS MONTH, Inspire Christian Writers will be publishing their newest Anthology, Inspire Courage. Appearing in it is a short fiction I wrote about a little girl who wants to help her family and, to do so, has to face her biggest fear.

The gathering of several authors’ works in Inspire Courage promises to be a great read over the holidays.

I will provide a link on my blog once the book has been published.

Are you a writer too – or thinking of writing? Inspire Christian Writers is an informative and award-winning website for you to investigate.

Until next week, keep Walking on Mustard Seeds,

Michele Marie Weisman

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash  (new)

Photo by Rene Böhmer on Unsplash  (City lights)

Photo by Nina Strehl on Unsplash(Love your neighbour)

Photo by Florian Klauer on Unsplash (typewriter)

Photo by Brandi Redd on Unsplash (unwritten letters)

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash (group)

Welcome to November’s first blog post. This is when we gather, praying for a need in your City. We prayed for twelve months, and this year, we are talking about action. What action can we take to walk out a prayer need in your City?

Last month I shared about the action of finding out what your local first responder’s needs are. You can find that post here.

This month, we are looking at your local citizens who live with Food Insecurity. This was not a phrase I was familiar with, but apparently, it has been around since the 1990s. According to the USDA:

Food insecurity is the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways.

USDA ERS – Measurement

(Definitions are from the Life Sciences Research Office, S.A. Andersen, ed., “Core Indicators of Nutritional State for Difficult to Sample Populations,” The Journal of Nutrition 120:1557S-1600S, 1990.)

Have you ever been without enough food for yourself or your family?

Food insecurity is not as uncommon as we may think. According to online research,

10.2 percent (13.5 million) of U.S. households were food insecure at some time during 2021. 

USDA ERS – Interactive Charts and Highlights

There are ways to help in your local city. We can donate food, time, or money to organizations that feed families living with food insecurity.

Thanksgiving is a time we love to gather around the table with traditional dishes while enjoying the company of our loved ones. It is a precious time to recall how the people native to this land taught and helped the Pilgrims to survive.

We can help people in our City, anonymously, quietly, and most importantly, the way Christ would have us serve one another humbly.

May you be blessed to be a blessing to someone’s dinner table this month.

Do you and your family have a tradition of helping others in the month of November?

My family discovered a local food bank that delivers groceries to people’s cars, it is a massive drive-through system. I can’t get over how small it made me feel to serve there. Grocery store donations, financial contributions, many volunteers who show up to help get all the food to the trunks, and many hands I don’t even know about make this weekly event possible.

Until next week, keep Walking on Mustard Seeds,

Michele Marie Weisman

PS. Can I ask a favor?

We can do something old-fashioned. Will you tell one friend about my blog? My goal is to gather interest in my devotional devoted to praying for your City. It means a lot to me that we, as Christians, pray for the people living around us.

As I work on my devotional, I will keep you updated on its progress.

If you don’t want to share about it, that is okay. You are always welcome here. 🙂

Tuesday night was National Night Out. Have you heard of it?

But first:

This last year of blogging was a year of prayer on the first Thursday of every month. I wrote a devotion designed to pray over your City.

This year is a year of action. Which means I am going to have to get busier. I have seen and heard of some local organizations I have been curious about; now is the time to step way outside of my comfort zone and investigate and invest time and investigate.

The first Thursday of the month is still designed to keep your City in prayer, but rather than a devotional when you stop and by, I will write about a ministry, a City staple, or an outreach that serves the community.

AND please share with us how you already are or are getting involved in your local City!

Back to National Night Out!

After twenty years of marriage, my husband and I finally started a weekly date night, so every Friday, we go out for coffee. It has expanded our ability to chat about everyday occurrences from the week, talk about our girls, and plan for upcoming house projects and family trips. The moments over coffee have been a boon to our relationship.

So, when we heard that our local city was hosting a National Night Out, we had to attend. Was it on a Friday? No. Did they serve coffee? No. The point was to do something together. Almost backing out due to being an introvert, I pressed through and attended –and I am glad I did.

The event was hosted at our local Fire and Police house. Yes, our town is so small, the two departments reside in the same building. But do not let the size mislead you.

What I learned at our City’s National Night Out

Did you know about 80% of the calls the Fire Department goes on are medical? They are usually the first to show up at the location. We found out our town has a device called Lucas. It was SO cool. This medical device provides chest compression, also known as CPR, in place of a person! This mechanical/medical miracle is part of the first responder team.

I was in awe of how the Firemen talked about the tools they had for times of rescue and resuscitation. Their care and concern for our community and the surrounding Cities were evident.

Not every city or town has Lucas. Why? Take a look at Lucas for yourself. It is super cool!

Your local Fire Department might be in need of something other than Lucas. Do you know what it is? Who can you ask? #whatdoesyourlocalfdneed

The answer to the blog title: Y O U

Praying for your City changes you.

My hope is that the prayer topics have changed the way you see your City. Love and concern for others in a natural path in the process of prayer. In order to pray, we have to lean in and hear the need, gain some inkling of an understanding of that need, and be in agreement that God is providing the answer.

We grow as we pray.

How do we grow from prayer? It opens our hearts and vision. We see that we may be an answer to prayer. We no longer primarily see our own lives in focus within our community but have expanded our view to see the community around our lives.

Prayer in Motion

Sometimes the prayer we pray creates the tailwind needed to tackle the issue ourselves.

God, thank you for the Fire Department; we are able to rest knowing they are a call away. We thank you for their families and all the training the men and women in our Fire Departments do. And thank you for those who fundraise and are there to provide support to them during and after fires. Amen

Until next week, keep Walking on Mustard Seeds,

Michele Marie Weisman

Let’s pray for rescue from drug and alcohol addiction.

“Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish. He said, “I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and Lord, you heard me!”
‭‭(Jonah‬ ‭2:1-2‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

I had a choice at the age of eighteen, continue on a dark path with alcohol, or take an abrupt turn onto a new path.

There are no simple addiction stories.

Living addicted to drugs or alcohol is never a simple story. There are many avenues that can lead people into this cycle. I will not cover all the circumstances that create this behavior but will mention a few.

Addiction in the home

Depression

PTSD

Peer pressure

Abuse

And more…

I could list statistics about the abuse of alcohol and drugs. The numbers are a little too depressing. I think I will save that for the actual Devotional.

The point of City prayer is to cry out to God on behalf of another. This is a scriptural and spiritual act.

Some addicted people don’t know they need help, don’t want help, have attempted again and again to get help or are kept from help.

Over three decades ago, I chose the new path.

Each new sober day was a battle to find something good while letting go of old habits and responses to life. Little by little, living became beautiful to me.

God, you rescued Jonah from the whale, and Jesus brought people back to life. We are pleading on behalf of all those addicted in our City to find the help, healing, forgiveness, and the strength needed to recover. Amen.

Next month we will pray for those affected by someone’s drinking or drug use.

Until next week, keep Walking on Mustard Seeds,

Michele Marie Weisman

PS All praise and glory go to Jesus Christ for my sobriety!

PSS Hey. Tomorrow, a company in England, CHRISTIAN FAITH BLOG – MAKEMEAVAILABLE , will post a piece I wrote for them. Will you help me help them? Please stop by their site as a “thank you” for hosting my writing.

You, my dear reader, have a few days to shop at a discount with Make Me Available, until the 4th of September. Use code: MICHELE10 Also, there are some gifted writers on their blog. So grab a cup of coffee or tea, pull up a chair, and be blessed!

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Photo by youssef naddam on Unsplash (arms/sky)

Photo by nikko macaspac on Unsplash (ocean/help)

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash (praying over man)

Photo by Pisit Heng on Unsplash (risen grave)

Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. (Romans 12:15 NLT)

This time of year, social media is filled with the first day of school photos.

Some parents are happy to have their kids go off to school for the day. Others will miss hanging out with them.

And then there are those who are starting college for the first time. (I can’t imagine the shift of emotions that will be!)

Are some kids nervous or afraid? Sure

Are some students excited? Yes.

It is fair to say it is a mix of emotions for all!

But, there are those that are caught in my heart, like a tense muscle that cannot relax.

In your city, there may be a family that is mourning the recent loss of their child.

Their child was supposed to move up a grade this year or move on to college or a trade school.

Heavy on my heart is the family of a student who died last school year. Do you know of any families who are weeping while other families are happy at the start of this school year?

We can pray for the cheerful families as well as the ones in mourning.

God, thank you for this scripture showing us how to support those we live among. Families who are happy need others to be happy with them. And those who have reason to weep need to know people care.

Please comfort the families who are missing their child, who is supposed to be joining the rest of the kids at school. May they feel your love wrapped around them tightly.

Thank you for the families celebrating this new year of learning, growing, and developing new skills. May they feel you cheering on their child’s new goals.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

update

I am coming up on one year of consistently blogging! T H A N K Y O U for stopping by this year. It has meant so much.

This week’s blog post is, of course, about City Prayer. Are you finding these posts helpful in praying over your city?

bonus

We have strength God expects us to use!

This week, I came across Proverbs 24 verse 10 in my ESV bible. It says, If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.

Ouch! Too many times, I have backed down under pressure. I didn’t like that realization. Then I began to think of times I have been strong and moved forward despite difficulties.

Have you felt faint in adversity? It can sound like this, “I don’t want to adult today.” Yikes!

And sometimes, we need to take it easy when the hit comes–so we can pray, regroup, and step past, over, or through the adversity.

Let’s not faint today but use our strength, knowing it will make us stronger.

last

Next week is usually the devotional review week. I will be reviewing a prayer book instead. I will let you know what it is today, in case you want to check it out early!

It is Pray A to Z, A Practical Guide to Pray for Your Community by Amelia Rhodes.

Until next week, keep Walking on Mustard Seeds!

Michele Marie Weisman

Photo by Ivan Aleksic on Unsplash (classroom)

Photo by Madison Oren on Unsplash (balloons)

Photo by Lance Grandahl on Unsplash (runners)

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

 “Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”