Praying Through Proverbs 31 + FREE Challenge

Ever since becoming a wife and mom the Proverbs 31 woman pops into my mind throughout the day. Like almost every other Christian woman, I want to be her.

I want to give all of myself for the Kingdom and that begins in the home.

Then I read the line about her lamp not going out at night, and my own eyes begin to feel droopy. What’s that advice about napping when the baby naps?

As I discussed in another post about her faith-inspired productivity, there’s this heavy feeling about the P31 woman that pervades Christian culture – she’s an impossible standard.

Does that mean we give up? Dismiss her chapter?

Remember, Jesus is perfect, and we still seek to be like Him.

Yet we don’t pursue Him with perfectionism. We ought to pursue Him by His power and by His Spirit.

We do not please Him with a picture-perfect house and family, but by exercising real, earnest, Spirit-led faith. And part of walking by faith is imitating those who imitate Christ – His righteous, selfless, sacrificial love – including the Proverbs 31 woman (1 Corinthians 11:1).

You may be still thinking: this sounds good, but I still fall short everyday. 

That’s okay. In fact, that’s a truth to embrace.

The truth is we can’t be the Proverbs 31 woman on our own. We can’t be her without Jesus.  

It’s only when we go to the cross daily – dropping our pride, mommy guilt, and whatever prove-yourself baggage we carry – and fill up with His grace that we can start living God’s design for women.

With God as our strength and motivation, we can see Mrs. 31’s beautiful model and respond with excitement instead of discouragement. In her we see womanhood at its finest, and we can be confident that it is Christ, not us, who will empower us to follow in her footsteps.

“I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

As a perfectionist unwinding and relaxing under God’s mighty hand, I’m beginning to see the challenge of the Proverbs 31 woman as a joy.

I know failure is inevitable, I know not all my food will be “from afar” and I may sleep full 8-hour nights, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t aspire to have the heart of who she is – not just an extreme homemaker but ultimately a woman who fears God.

And it’s because I will fall short, because my flesh is real and fights against me, I can’t do this pursuit of P31 alone. I wasn’t meant to. I must do it with Jesus and for Jesus.

A major part of that abiding in Him is prayer.

As I pray to grow spiritually and for those around me, I can also pray the Proverbs 31 verses – that I may be a “woman of noble character.”

In one of those random moments where I thought about being her I realized I needed to pray about having her noble heart before doing her noble tasks.

[clickToTweet tweet=”In order to do Proverbs 31 works we must pray for a Proverbs 31 heart.” quote=”In order to do Proverbs 31 works we must pray for a Proverbs 31 heart. “]

That’s when this challenge was born – if only to shape my own heart…and invite you to pray with me!

Whatever season you’re in, you are welcome here. You’re welcome to join a community of women who desire to fear the Lord with all their hearts.

Join the FREE challenge by signing up below!

Each day an email will be sent to you with a set of 2-4 Proverbs 31 verses and a corresponding prayer to bring to God.

You can also download the printable card version in the welcome email. Use them in your daily prayer time, or place them around the house to remind you that your homemaking is for the glory of God!