Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Praying for Your Children

I have heard a few stories over the last week or so that opened my eyes again about how important it is to pray for our children and their futures. The stories are not about people I know. They came from Dateline or some other news show that I watch from time to time. These shows were about adult serial killers or kidnappers, adults whose lives went seriously wrong. In all the episodes, family members were interviewed about the "guilty" person's childhood. In all cases, these adults were great kids, involved in church, very intelligent, and well-liked. Mothers, fathers, older sisters, and brothers were shocked at the decisions that their relative had made, but could all point back to something that happened in the Jr. High or High School years. That something was the wrong group of friends.

One man was introduced to Satanism by "friends" in his early high school years, and even though the mother and older sister saw disturbing things and disturbing changes in his personality they didn't really take action to change the situation. They said he was just "dabbling" in it. One man was introduced to drugs in Jr. High by the wrong group of friends. One man got involved in a gang in his early life and based his poor decisions on their expectations.

A verse comes to mind as I think about these stories...1 Corinthians 15:33 "Do not be deceived: Bad company corrupts good morals." That is so true!

It is so easy to look at criminals and just be disgusted, but they each started out as a sweet, innocent child with a world full of potential, just as my girls have today. These stories make me look at my children and just wonder about their futures, their friends, and their decisions.

I do not want to just wonder though, I want to turn this over to God in prayer. I pray for my girls daily, but usually my prayers focus on the here and now, issues we are dealing with, sickness, etc I always pray for their salvation, which is a future event, but hearing these stories reminded me that I need to be covering so much more in prayer. If I don't pray for them, who will?

Here are a few prayer requests that I will be adding to my prayer list and you might consider adding them to yours as well....
  • that they will be caught when they sin
  • that God will provide godly friends and protect them from the wrong ones
  • that they will have obedient hearts
  • that they will have godly teachers and positive mentors in their lives
  • that they will truly love God and will not stray from His path
  • that they will be some of the most godly girls in their circle of influence
  • that God will provide a godly husband and protect them from the wrong one

I would love to hear some of the things that you are praying for your children in the comment section. It just might be something that I haven't thought about.

Prayer is such a powerful weapon. It is one that we have been given to fight the enemy of our souls. And we do have an enemy...an enemy whose sole purpose is to destroy us and to destroy our families. I plan on fighting back!

Until next time...

Oh, on a side note...Gene is going on a Mission trip to Nicaragua in March. The cost is around $1500 so if you are looking for some mission work to give to, we would love the financial support. You can message me if you are interested. We would also covet your prayers.

3 comments:

  1. Ooooh...love the one about them being one of the most goldy influences in their circle of friends! I also pray that my girls will have an amazing bond of friendship. I didn't have a sister but have seen others in their relationships that are so close and I want that for my girls. {on a side note...they are playing barbies right now and Leah - the 3 yr old - is singing "Oh Dear Lord, please don't let me go to jail. Oh Lord, please don't be mad." WHAT??? Where did that come from? And I just read your post...AAAHHHH.....hahaha}

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  2. great post - thanks for the reminder!
    i do pray for Rylee, but not nearly as much as i should, and not always about the things you mentioned.
    another thing i would add to the list is that she will value her purity, and protect it until she is married.

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  3. Wow, amazing how God works - the timing of this post is so perfect. I have been thinking lately of how to better pray for Hayden and her future and yesterday I started my new devotional/book and I am reading The Power of a Praying Parent, because I needed guidance in my prayers for her. I can't help but think "what if I don't pray the right things for her future, is she doomed" the books says of course this isn't so, but you never want to leave anything out. Thanks for some of the advice on what to pray for specifically. I am like you that most of the things I pray for are the here and now, but I also pray for her salvation, her future friends and husband and her children and most importantly our relationship and that she will continue to see God's word lived out through me - most days I fail terribly at this one...

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