Pray in 2017- Day 22: Praying For My Children
"So now, our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his supplications, and for your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine..." Dan. 9:17
Day 22- Praying for my kids
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. (3 John 1:4 ESV)
Praying for our kids, in some ways, is the most natural prayer. We cry out daily for their safety and success. But today lets look to Scripture to pray specifically for their spiritual lives. May 2017 be a year of great spiritual growth in them.
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, (Deuteronomy 6:5-6 ESV)
This is God’s instruction to His people, that they love Him with every part of themselves. God instructs us as parents to teach our kids this. Today let’s pray for that love to take root in their hearts.
May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars cut for the structure of a palace; (Psalm 144:12 ESV)
May our children grow strong and fruitful, contributing to every environment they are in.
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. (Luke 2:52 ESV)
As my children grow up and move out of the house, I continue to pray this for them. This verse encompasses their mind, body, and soul, all areas in which they need to mature.
Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good repute In the sight of God and man. (Proverbs 3:3-4 NASB)
We raised our kids on this verse. If they are kind, they will have successful relationships, and if they hold on to truth, they will not be led astray.
Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. (Colossians 3:12-15 ESV)
These verses embody how we need to live together in our home. But for us to live this way, we are going to need a whole lot of Jesus. Prayer changes my attitude about these character qualities in my kids (and in myself), so that I stop expecting them to rustle up enough self-control to be kind and patient. Instead, I am asking the Lord to fill them with His presence and His Spirit, so that His character is seen in them.
Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. (Psalm 37:3-5 ESV)
I desire my kids trust God with all their heart and live their lives faithfully and fruitfully. There are so many voices crying out to them to walk a different path, but I keep praying that the Lord will help them stay on His.
The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand. I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing. (Psalm 37:23-26 ESV)
If and when they do get off track, I ask the Lord to hold their hand and bring them back.
Lets pray all year that our kids will grow mightily and be a blessing in 2017.
Prayer Day 22
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. (Psalm 127:4 ESV)
Dear Jesus,
I lift my children up to You today. They are Your arrows, entrusted to me for a short time. May they be sent far for You, to the glory of Your name.
Please grow the love in my children’s hearts for You. May they love You more than every other competing desire. I ask You to help them develop not just an emotional love for You, but one that changes their actions and words. May every part of their being fall more deeply in love with You, every day of 2017.
Jesus, please help them grow strong and mighty to do Your work. Every day, help their minds increase in knowledge and understanding. Please protect their minds from the teaching of the world which denies You. Also, may their bodies grow stronger this year. Please protect their health so there is no impediment to Your service. If there are health hurdles in 2017, please give us the grace to endure them and to know You deeper as we go through them.
I ask You Lord to enable them to hold on to kindness and truth. Help them to put on compassion, love, patience, thankfulness, and forgiveness. Please help them with their relationships with others, from the members of their own family, to the other people they walk through life with. Holy Spirit, please invade those relationships so they reflect You. May Your peace rule in their hearts.
May You be my child’s delight, Jesus. May he/she fall so in love with You this year, that their life would be built around You. May You be their delight. Help them commit to You and trust in You.
And Lord when they stumble this year, which certainly will happen, please help them be aware of Your presence that holds and protects them. May they know You better from walking through their trials with You. And Lord, if/when they do something wrong, please allow them to be caught early. Please don't allow them to get away with anything evil.
I ask You Lord to make my children a blessing to this world that Your truth would be proclaimed and Your name would be known.
Amen
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6 ESV)
Lets pray all year that our children will know the Lord better and love Him deeper. And out of that will grow a great desire to share Him with the world.
We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, (Psalm 78:4-6 ESV)
Day 23- Praying For Friendships
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