BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

B V O V : 2 5 en I thought, You're right. I don't want to say something negative over my children, and I don't want my children to speak negatively because of me." I m m e d i a t e l y u p o n P r e g n a n c y Prayers' release, Ashley began receiving testimonies from people saying they had found hope and comfort from using the app. One friend in particular, whose wife was pregnant following the loss of a child the year before, texted Ashley after using the app. At the time, their baby had reached the point where he could live if he were born, but the dad was still struggling. Although he knew their baby could survive, he wanted him to remain in utero until full term. That's when he opened his daily prayer from Pregnancy Prayers that included the following prayer: "Lord, I pray my baby will make it to full term. I thank You that if he does come early, he can survive now, but I ask that he stay in the womb until he is completely developed and ready." at prayer, he wrote, brought hope and peace to an other wise anxious father. And that same hope and peace is available to all family members and loved ones, not just parents. Anyone, including grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, friends or church members, who purchases and dow n loads P reg nancy P raye rs ca n submit the name and email address of an expectant mother they know. The mother will then receive a notification that her prayer team has grown. "This feature is key," says Ashley, "because in Matthew 18:19, Jesus tells us, 'If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you' (New Living Translation)." "e purpose of Pregnancy Prayers is not only to pray for your baby on your own, but to get all of your family praying with you," she explains. "Mothers realize that they are not alone. They have a whole community of believers standing in faith for their baby." Of course, the Pregnancy Prayers app is just the beginning. In addition, A sh ley say s she is commit ted to promoting positive messages about pregnancy through other means. "Some people make pregnancy sound negative," she says, "so I'm trying to put positive messages out [on social media sites] about pregnancy. Moms need to find something positive about pregnancy and be uplifted. I thought Pregnancy Prayers would be it. Then, when I was talking to the app developers, they asked, 'So you prayed for your baby until your baby was born and then you stopped?'" "Well, no," I answered. "OK, so you need to keep writing." God used that one conversation to expand Ashley's vision. Today, in addition to raising her children and teaching school, she is busy writing t h re e more pr ay er app s: one for newborns, one for teachers and one for the everyday individual who needs prayer. Ashley admits that this has been an unexpected journey. "I just felt like I was supposed to write Pregnancy Prayers, so that's where I started. I thought, I'm going to write it while I live it." at single step of obedience is taking Ashley in directions she never before imagined, bringing hope, peace and God's Word to expectant families. "I've really loved every step of it," Ashley says of her journey so far. She never imagined her career would include that of app developer and writer, but as she proclaims, "God gave me the words to say!" And thankfully, He's not f inished with her yet. At the point in the pregnancy when the baby's heart develops, Pregnancy Prayers sends the subscriber information about that milestone as well as prayers for a healthy heart. Available in the Apple app store & Google Play You can find out more about Ashley Sims and the Pregnancy Prayers app at PrayingDaily.com.

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