Can you believe it’s September already?! New school year, new election year… A few years back, we shared a blog called “10 Things to Pray Every Day During September 2020” and that blog turned partly into the Honest Prayers for Mama Bears book!

But prayer isn’t something we relegate to just one specific time. (Okay… maybe it’s a good idea to be on our knees a little more than usual during an election season like this one?)

In general, mama bears, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of prayer. We fight ideologically battles ideologically, but we fight spiritual battles with the spiritual weapons that God has given us, because no amount of “discussion” will be effective if there is a spiritual stronghold jacking up communication. Remember, “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” (Ephesians 6:12 NIV). Spiritual blindness is a real thing. Spiritual deafness is a real thing. (See Matthew 13.) We have an entire war raging all around us in the spiritual realm, and if we want to make a dent in our culture, we need to be prayed up not only for our own sakes, but for the sake of those who are held captive to these strongholds. (See Isaiah 61:1.)

Some of these prayers will be new. Some will be repeats from 2020. But I’d like us as a Mama Bear community to commit to pray these 10 prayers, every day at 12 o’clock noon. In fact, post “Prayed #10at12” on your socials. Let’s see how many mama bears we can get lifting up these strongholds every single day in September and October! And then let’s see if we can make it a regular thing. There is something magical about knowing that there are other mama bears all over the world praying at the exact same time as you (or within your time zone!).

1. Unity around the essentialsThere’s a phrase from German Lutheran theologian Rupertus Meldenius that my husband’s former professor Norman Geisler used to repeat frequently: “In the essentials, unity, in the negotiables, liberty, in all things, charity.” Mama bears, there are a lot of different opinions out there at what constitutes “the essentials” of the Christian faith. There are hills worth dying on and hills that are not. Let’s be praying that God would reveal to us the essentials of Christianity around which we are to unapologetically unify, knowing that in some of the lesser issues, we should have grace with our brothers and sisters. Only then, can real unity take place.

2. Division around the non-negotiablesAnd while we are on the subject of unity, there are some who (mistakenly) advocate for embracing allllll the things under the auspices of “Christian unity.” Mama bears, we can’t go there, either. Does it directly change who God has revealed Himself to be in Scripture, negate what the Bible says, or prevent us from fully reflecting God’s image to the world? Don’t unify with that! No matter how much the person claims to “love Jesus.” That being said, there are a whollllle range of different convictions, secondary issues, or personalities that all contribute to a healthy, functioning, body of Christ. That’s what healthy parts of the body do; they each have their own function while interacting with the whole. Separate yourself from anything that destroys the function of the whole, but it’s okay to be different with convictions and secondary beliefs. Pray that the Lord would reveal to you those issues, and be bold enough to separate from things that distort the gospel.

3. Ability to see what’s going on in culture without fearThis is a prayer that I pray regularly for myself, and for y’all, my sweet mama bears. There is a lot going on in this world. God, please open our eyes to the schemes of the enemy without letting us give way to fear. If you are for us, who can be against us? Your perfect love casts out fear. But may we never turn a blind eye to what is going on in our world.

God, please open our eyes to the schemes of the enemy without letting us give way to fear. #prayer #10at12 #honestprayersformamabears #mamabearapologetics
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1. An insatiable craving for the WordWe cannot figure out what the essentials, negotiables, or dealbreakers are if we don’t know the Word! For anyone who has read the Honest Prayers book, you know that I spend a lot of time admitting to God how tedious it feels to study sometimes. That’s where we ask the Lord to change our desires! Make us absolutely insatiable for your Word, Lord! That is how we “Delight ourselves in the Lord” so that He can “Give us the desires of our heart.” When the desire for the Bible becomes a deep yearning in our souls, then Bible study becomes exactly what we want to do! It’s a pretty sweet deal.

2. Eyes to see the teachable momentsThere is so much that goes on around us, from conversations at a soccer game to moments in the latest film, television show, or TSwift lyrics. Raising kids who are disciples of Jesus means that we need to reinforce the truths from His word while whether we are walking on the road or going through the Wendy’s drive-thru. Be careful with this prayer! The Lord is faithful to answer it! You’ll see nonsense everywhere, and your kids will get so tired of you pointing out lies that they’ll start being all “Nooo! Not again!!!” But mama bears, I say it all the time: sometimes that eye-roll means you are on exactly the right track!

3. A mind that can remember what we’ve learnedAnyone else’s memory tanked in your old age? No? Just me? Riiiiiight. I literally pray this a lot. There’s so much study that I do, and it is frustrating when I can’t remember it all. I have those “teachable moments” come up with the neighbors’ kids or my nephews, but I sometimes fear that my ability to recall what I’ve learned is diminished. So I give that to God, too.

Lord, increase our study, and help us retain that which you want us to pass on to your children! Help us be faithful in each of these small, teachable tasks. #honestprayers #10at12 #mamabearapologetics
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1. Energy to defend our actual family and our church familyDefending our families doesn’t mean we go all West Side Story rumble style. One major part of defense is fortifying unity. What can you do that helps fortify your family’s bond? Family dinners? Family game night? Make sure that being together is where nostalgia will take them back to in the future. Same thing for our church families. There are a lot of bad experiences that people can have at church to the point where they want to tear down Christ’s bride altogether. Not on our watch! Weep with those who weep. Mourn with those who mourn. But do not stand idly by and allow the entire Bride of Christ to be trashed in the public sphere. One book we recommend about this is Jeff Meyer’s Truth Changes Everything, which goes into detail on all the beautiful things that the Church (big C) has accomplished throughout history.

2. Know when to speak up and when to be silentMama bears, some fights are ours and we’ve been called to serve. Other fights? Not so much. It’s okay to pick your battles. It’s okay to let people be (gasp) wrong sometimes. Do you know where you’ve been and how far God has brought you? If every single time you were wrong someone was in your face about it, the maturity might have ended there. Just remember how you are as a parent — sometimes you let things go because it’s a small skirmish in the bigger battle of raising kids up into adulthood. The same is true with all of us who are at different spiritual maturities. Just ask the Lord for wisdom in the moment, and then either boldly speak up or boldly hold your tongue. Either way, don’t do it because you fear being quiet or not speaking up. We are bold when we know we are answering a situation aptly.

3. Ability to see root issuesI was talking to my cousin about a lady who was rude at the grocery store. My mind immediately went to all the possible scenarios that she might have lived through today. Now, this isn’t the case all the time. Sometimes, people are just jerks. But as we go about being light, being seeds, and spreading the kingdom, let’s ask God for the ability to see what the root of the issue is rather than the symptom.

4. Freedom to release all consequences to GodEven looking at this list, being a Christ follower can feel like walking a tightrope. There’s so much to balance, so many perspectives to take into consideration. But you know what? We’re probably going to mess it up again… and again… and again. And being a Christian means that we as sinners just keep trying. We give grace to ourselves when we blow it, and grace to others when they blow it. If there was something that God needed us to do, the world will not crumble unless we do it perfectly. He chooses to use us because He delights in using us! We do our best, but the results are ultimately up to Him. Now, our hearts, on the other hand, don’t know this. Personally, I take every failure as if I should have known better. But the older I get, the more I realize that I don’t have as much control as I like to think I do. So my prayer in those situations is that I would just release it to God. Otherwise, there are just too many things to keep me up at night, and I’m not particularly pleasant when I’ve been up all night! Haha!

I do what I can, release it to God, and when I find myself ruminating again, I ask Him to take it one more time. #10at12 #prayers #honestprayers #mamabearapologetics
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I hope that you like our 10 at 12 for this year! Let us know in the comments if any of these particularly spoke to your heart.

P.S. A new note-taking edition of Honest Prayers for Mama Bears book will be released next month! We think you’ll love its beautiful design, which includes space to write down your own thoughts related to the prayers. You can preorder it now wherever books are sold!

Hillary Morgan FerrerHillary Morgan Ferrer is the founder of Mama Bear Apologetics. She is the chief author and editor of Mama Bear Apologetics: Empowering Your Kids to Challenge Cultural Lies and Mama Bear Apologetics Guide to Sexuality: Empowering Your Kids to Understand and Live Out God’s Design. Hillary has her masters in Biology and has been married to her husband, Dr. John D. Ferrer, for 17 years. Don’t let her cook for you. She’ll burn your house straight to the ground.

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