Being a new dad is a lot of fun. My son can’t even talk yet and we’re having a blast so I can’t imagine what it will be like when he’s running around, laughing, and speaking. Though there’s no denying that being a dad is challenging. Micah needs a lot of attention; unless his mom and I are there every minute for him, he won’t survive. It’s a crazy concept to consider.

I love kids, I always have but it’s different when you have your own. I do not love poopy diapers. Micah poops probably nine times a day and if no one changes him, he will be laying in his own filth, so I have learned the art. And even though Micah is a great sleeper for an infant (sleeping 4-5 hours a night), I’m a really heavy sleeper so I’ve needed to change my habits so that I can meet the needs of my son and my wife.

Mikaela is incredible. She was already an incredible wife before Micah came into the world, but now that she’s a mom I’m continually amazed by her. I didn’t realize how much work goes into being a mom! I want to help her out as much as I can, often that means giving up time with the guys after practice or cutting conversations short because I need to get back to give Mikaela some time for her own sanity.

Being parents has given Mikaela and me the opportunity to become a stronger team. I’ve never been good with chores around the house—it’s not my gifting. I’m a romantic and I’m great at conversation and communication, but cleaning up is not my strong suit. With the baby, I see now that when I clean the house, take out the trash, or do the chores it’s one less thing that my wife has to worry about. I see how much it means to her when I recognize these needs of hers and serve in this way.

Prayer has also become much more important in my life recently. Mikaela and I have been focusing not only on praying more often, but praying more specifically. Charles Spurgeon talks about making your prayers like arrows, direct and purposeful. We are praying for specific things with the faith and confidence that God will answer.

Like an arrow we are praying for Micah to know and love the Lord and we believe that he will.

Recently we had a pretty big scare with Micah. Within the first month of his life he developed Respiratory syncytial virus infection, which is similar to a regular cold and not uncommon for kids to catch, but it is uncommon to find in kids under a month. For new parents, it was terrifying. When Micah had a ten-minute episode of not breathing while we frantically drove to the ER, I found myself the most frightened I had been in a long time. Thankfully, he was able to regain his breath and start his way to recovery.

Like an arrow we prayed that God would heal Micah and we believed that He would do it.

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” —1 John 5:14

More and more I am realizing that my main ministry is inside the walls of my house. I don’t want to neglect the people outside of my home but my priority is my family. I pray that I would be able to raise my family in the ways of the Lord.

Now that I have a new child to take care of it’s a lot harder to find time to spend in God’s Word—there’s so much to do all the time! But I don’t want to miss this. The day can get by me so fast but my moments with Christ are becoming more and more precious—more valued. Whether you have a kid or not, it’s easy to get into a routine of “Christian discipline.” You start to think: I need to meet with the Lord because it’s good for me. But that’s not the kind of relationship that God is calling us to. Moments with God are now more precious for me because I’m being more authentic with Him. My prayers are not a rattling off of what I hope for or solely a list of things I’m grateful for, instead I’m praying, “Lord, I need Your help. I’m not going to be able to do this without You.”

Being in God’s Word and spending time with Him in prayer renews my mind and gives me the strength to handle the rest of the day. His strength causes me to see how I can in turn instill encouragement and strength into my wife and son. When I come to God with genuine authenticity and a longing to meet Him, He is always there.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” —Matthew 7:7-8

God tells us that when we seek Him we will find Him but we often miss the meaning of this message. God is not preaching a health and wealth Gospel. He doesn’t say this so that we can make Him into a genie in a bottle type of God, but He does promise to hear our prayers when we call out to Him. There are people who genuinely need food for the day or a house to live in and when they come to God in faith and ask, He hears them. I believe when I go to the Lord on my knees and ask Him for the things I need for my son, my family, and my life, He hears me. Just like I would never withhold from Micah something that he needs—something that I know would benefit him—in the same way our Father will not withhold what’s best for us. It may not be in our timing or in the way we expect, but if we go to God and believe that He will answer, we can be sure that He hears.

“And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him.” —1 John 5:15

God’s plan will happen regardless of what we pray or how we pray it. If we go to God and say, “I’m asking this in faith,” He may say, “I have a better plan.” Just as I want to be the best dad that I can be to Micah, so God is the best Father that we could ever hope for. If you come to Him with pure motives, genuine faith, and an authentic heart, God will answer your prayers.

—Steven Souza

Steven Souza is a regular contributor of The Increase, providing monthly articles and opinions.

Check out Steven’s full profile on The Increase Baseball: http://theincreasebaseball.com/author/steven-souza/

If you enjoyed this article, please share: