Circle 2 Plus was born 15 years ago with three moms who desired to pray for their families. We joined together each week for one hour to pray, calling our time Petra from the verse in Matthew where Christ gave Simon a new name:

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter (Petros - a rock, singular), and upon this rock (Petra - a foundation or mass of rocks, plural) I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Matthew 16:18-19 KJV

In the verse, Christ identified Peter as a single stone who would join with others like himself to build the foundation which would become Christ's Church. Likewise, we believed the LORD would provide courage, strength and understanding if we joined together to pray. As mothers who desired to teach our children how to love the LORD, we prayed, "LORD, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1) for our family, not our will but Your will be accomplished (Matthew 26:39).

"Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.

For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." Matthew 18:18-20 NKJV

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him. 1 John 5:14-15 NIV

In teaching us how to pray, we also had to learn what to pray for and how do we know if what we pray is "according to His will?" Kind of tricky...so we began to devour Scriptures to find answers to our questions. The Spirit lead us to Galatians 5:

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:16-18, 22-25 NIV

From that day forward my Petra sisters and I began to pray positive, scriptural prayers over our children each week from the attributes of the Fruit of the Spirit. We desired what God desired for our families which was for all of us, children and parents, to bear much fruit.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. John 15:5:8 NIV

Since that time, the moms of Circle 2 Plus have prayed the Galatians 5 attributes over our children, and we would like to share this testimony with you. We sincerely believe that our perseverance in prayer to kneel before the Throne for our husbands and children has made the greatest impact in our family's lives. On January 13th we posted Love is Loyal. This was the an introduction for our discussion for the next few weeks, Fruit of the Spirit in the life or our families.

We invite you to join us in praying scriptural prayers over your family members. We will share our experiences of God's faithfulness in our posts, what He has taught us, how He has used events in our lives to make our children and ourselves into Christ followers who will bear much fruit for His glory.

Holy Father God, I lift to Your Holy Throne my son/daughter, _________ (insert name). Please lead _________ (insert name) by the Spirit. Fill _________ (insert name) with the fruit of the Spirit which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let_________ (insert name) keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:16-18, 22-25) Amen.