My Constant Prayer: "Dear God, I Want MORE!"

“Dear God, I am asking you please, for MORE.”

Yes, you heard me right. This is one of my most ardent and heartfelt prayers. I pray it quite often in fact. Many times, especially while I’m driving down the road, I just simply say, “God, I want more.”

Often, that is all I say, no details… God already knows those details and has heard me pray for them countless times. Other times, I do reiterate the details for my All-Knowing God. But basically, my prayer is the same prayer, and the same intensity… “God, please, MORE. I’m praying the more prayer to you!”

I know that God gets it, and I also know, in faith, that He will answer it.

Now…

You may be thinking…

How materialistic she is!
How greedy!
How covetous!

No, that is not what my prayer is about.
I’m not asking for more “stuff.”

My husband and I don’t live a fancy life. We are content, and have all we need. Truth be told, we live in a doublewide on a lovely hill, and we are totally happy with that! God gave us this doublewide (manufactured home, for those who may not know) 8 months after we brought our 2 adopted daughters into our home, which already included our 3 biological children. Previously, we had lived with all 5 children together, in a single-wide trailer on this same hill for all of those 8 months, and for a couple of years as a family of 5, before deciding to adopt 2 sisters, ages 8 and 10. You can read our Adoption story here.

Was that singlewide crowded? Oh yes, but it was overflowing with love as well. When we were blessed of God to be able to purchase our doublewide, I was overjoyed, and still am with the great gift God had given our family. Fast forward 21 years, and although my husband and I are now empty nester’s, with just shy of 10 years to go on our mortgage, I still wake up many mornings and just thank God for my beautiful home, on my extra beautiful hill. I love this place! Especially when its filled with the joy and laughter of my extra-special and beautiful grandchildren.

I still feel so blessed by my home, with its hand-me down, and yard-sale find furnishings, enhanced by a piece or two of real “store-bought” pieces when we could afford them. There are years of family photos covering the walls. There is also lots of my own and kid-made art, mixed in with some well loved wall decor that struck a personal chord with my husband and I in our travels. It’s an eclectic mix that, hopefully, makes the visitor feel cozy and welcome when they sit in our living room or at our kitchen table for coffee & pie.

But it is definitely NOT fancy. We don’t really do fancy!

So, if that’s not what the “more” prayer is about, you may be asking with a probable sigh of relief, what is it about?

Some astute thinkers may be thinking.. Oh, I know… she wants more of God in her life. Well, that concept is definitely true, but that wouldn’t be the right answer either for what the “More” prayer is about.

Oh yes, I truly do want to grow more and more in my relationship with my Savior. But I think of that as growing deeper in Christ. Like the roots of a tree grow deeper in the soil, and I do pray for that also. More knowledge of Him, more passion for God, more ability to live a life that honors God and glorifies my Savior, more understanding, discernment, compassion, and empathy for others. These are also personal prayers of mine. Simply put, that the world would see Jesus when they look at me. This is a sincere prayer I have prayed quite often in varying ways.

If I had to give a name to that prayer described above; and… as you can tell…. I have a habit of doing this… I would call that my “Psalm 1 prayer.” Go ahead, read Psalms chapter 1, and you will understand. I even have an ink-penned picture of a tree by a river next to Psalm 1 in my Bible. 🙂

So, without any further ado, what is this “more” prayer?

Well, the concept comes from 2 Kings 2:9.

“When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”

The passing of the mantle. The double portion. This is what the “More” prayer is about. I pray it for my children, their spouses, and my young grandchildren.

My husband and I have both loved God since we were children. He got saved when he was 9, and I at the age of 12. We have both tried to love and serve God with all our hearts since then. (He would tell you that he didn’t become real serious about his Christian faith until he was around 19 or so, but his faith was very real to him from the onset.) I took my faith very seriously from the start, having come from a turbulent childhood. Christ sustained me throughout those years. Strongly. Here, you can read my salvation testimony.

We desperately want all of our 5 children, and their spouses, and their children, to have a deep and abiding faith. We also want them to have a “double portion” of the faith we’ve shown throughout our lives. By this I mean that I want my children, children-in-law, and grandchildren to live out their Faith Walk deeper than we have, stronger than we have, more knowledgeable than us, more wise than us, more unwavering than we have been, even though I don’t think we have wavered much, at least outwardly where others could see. But we all have our struggles with this Christian life. Still, if there was one thing I think we had relative success at in parenting… I think all of our grown children would tell you, “my parents always truly loved God, and we knew it.” Yet, my “More” prayer is for them to go further, deeper, wider, stronger, bigger in their faith than we did. That is what I pray for when I pray the “More” prayer.

Do I want them to be the next Billy Graham?

No, not unless that is what God has for them. I just mean in the realm of their life, I want them to have a faith that is all-sustaining, all encompassing, all-consuming even more than its been for their Dad and I. I want us to have that too! But I want them to have it more. To keep on keeping on in the Faith. To be More consistent, more devoted, more fruitful, more harvest-ful, more radical, more evangelical, more prayerful, more passionate, more quiet & thoughtful & wait-ful, and just simply more Christ-like than we have been. This is my deepest and most passionate prayer as a mother, and as a grandmother. Let my children and grandchildren be more for you Jesus than I or their father have been. A double portion. A deeper faith walk.

Let me flip the coin and tell you, I have a “less” side of this prayer too, which you can probably figure out. I pray for my children and grandchildren to be less wishy-washy in their faith. Less doubtful of who they are in Christ, less unwilling, less compromising, less lazy, less unready, less undecided, less worldly, less afraid, and less “fleshy” than we have been.

There are so many more ‘words’ that come to me while I’m praying… on the more side and on the less side. The Holy Spirit gives them to me as I pray, which shows me He cares and is in the process of answering. This prayer does come from the bottom of my Mother’s heart for her children. I love God with all my heart, but I want them to be more of the best of me, and less of the worst of me as I walk this faith walk. I want them to shine brighter for Jesus than I or their Father have ever done, and yet we try to let God’s light shine through us every day.

Is God answering my prayer? I believe in faith that He is and will continue to do so in each of my children, their spouses, and my grandchildren in the days, months and years to come.

Are all of my children there yet? Haha, of course not. But I see God working on them slowly but surely. Some have gone the prodigal road, but thankfully, we have seen them return, a definite answer to committed prayer. Some of my “18 souls” (now around 20… you can read that post by clicking the blue link.) are not even saved yet. But I truly believe they are heirs of salvation. As much as I pray for them and my husband prays also, I know God is faithful to answer these prayers.

Prayer is powerful! Not because of my weak prayerful words, but because of the One I pray to! The One who intercedes for me, and prays prayers on my behalf that I cannot even utter. I have seen Him at work and I know Him personally. I know He hears, cares, and will answer my sincere Mother’s prayers. And I will keep on praying them as long as I have breath in me. Then, afterwards, I will ask Him directly, face to face, when I see Him as He is in Heaven and in all His glory. I want this with all my heart and soul. God knows that.

Perhaps you want to pray this prayer for your children also. Be my guest! But let me warn you, it will change you too. It will burden your heart, and even break it at times. It will cause you to see the trials your loved ones go through with different eyes. It will have you rejoicing on their mountain tops, and crying through their valleys with a greater intensity. It will have you re-focusing your prayer-perspective on something bigger than you… something generational. Something eternal. Seeing a glimpse of the battles ahead that they will have to endure will overwhelm you at times. But, it will be good. In the long-run, it will be very good. If our children and grandchildren live out their faith stronger than we have, the next generation will be blessed.

I can do no greater work for Christ than to pray, and praying for my children, their spouses, and my grandchildren is, in my book, the greatest prayer I can pray as a mother. I know you think so too for your own loved ones.

You can read about 3 other strange prayers I pray (and why you should consider praying them too!) here. Prayer is one of my favorite subjects!