One Parent To Another

“Satan is out there roaming the earth seeking whom he may devour.” We have all read that and heard it preached. To hear it and know it in your mind is one thing, but when you see the enemy come after your child…it wakes you up, shakes up your notions of how things really are, and challenges your faith. I was driven to my knees…more like flat on my face…in prayer for my child. Many times I did not even know what to pray but just wept before Him.

My prayer life up until then was sporadic and all too often reactionary. Good things happen …Praise the Lord! Bad things happen…Help me Lord! Most of the time, I just bumbled along in life trying to do the best I could. When it hit home, I had to start walking my talk in ways that I had never been challenged to do before. I am a problem solver, a “fixer” by nature. This was something that no matter what I did I could not “fix”. I could do nothing but pray and trust in the Lord. As I prayed for my own daughter, your sons & daughters were brought to my heart more & more.

It was a simple question that started this branch of the ministry. Todd came up to me one EDGE Friday night while the band was practicing and asked me if I would round up some parents to pray while he was giving his message. I said sure, and a few of us that were there that night went to a quiet room in the church and prayed. I thought that was it, but I soon learned that God had other plans.

I only see these kids over a table strewn with pizza. I don’t know many of their names, don’t have the interactions with them that the small group leaders do. But God has burned their faces in my mind, and opened my ears to hear the silent cries of their hearts. I have seen first hand how hard it is for them out there in the world. I have become a student of youth culture, and know more about the destructive and evil forces that they have to contend with than I ever wanted to know. Now I am driven to my face not only for my child, but for all of OUR children.

Make no mistake about it, whether you want to be or not, you are at war! At stake are the hearts, minds, and souls of our children. That is what birthed “In the Trenches”. I had asked God to use me, but never thought it would be in this direction. Me Lord? An intercessory prayer warrior? I felt (and still do feel) totally inadequate for the task. But that is the cool thing about our God…His grace is enough to cover all of our weaknesses.

Please join me on EDGE Friday nights, and daily in your own prayers, in the trenches of spiritual warfare for our children.

Thanks
Carol Ann Utrup
“Maddie’s Mom”