16 Things to Pray for Our Children

~from Kim~

Over the years I have been blessed to hear many speakers who have studied to bring messages on biblical parenting. I am so grateful for these messages that inspire me to love my children, pray for my children and teach my children biblical truths. God has used messages like this to build my security in Him and His ways. I recently heard Tom Harmon speak in Nashville, Tennessee. What a great message! This message was called 16 Things to Pray for Your Children.
Tom began by talking about problems in our prayer life; some of us are prone to daydreaming during prayer times. He recommends structuring our prayers, making lists, and having specific times when we pray. Here is a list that he recommends using or starting with for our prayers for our children. I think it would be even better to pray these WITH our children. I have not yet done this.

1. Pray for their Salvation. Pray that they really believe, that they know God loves them, that they can pray and believe that God hears them and responds. Pray that they know they are sinners, that they be broken and know they need Christ. Share your testimony with your children; share your brokenness with them. Share some things that God has delivered you from. Share your faith in Christ with them daily and often. Make it clear that your own salvation and relationship with God is the most important thing in your life. Pray that they be partakers of the Divine Nature, not spectators.

2. Pray for their future mate. Marriage is a fellowship of the Spirit; pray that the Holy Spirit is working now on his or future mate. Pray that their future mate would be presently growing spiritually and finding his or her purpose in serving Christ. Pray for contentment with waiting for their future spouse to experience romantic love and attraction. Help them prepare for marriage through loving their families, serving, working, sacrificing, speaking gently and lovingly.

3. Pray that they would fall in love with God’s Word. Model daily Bible reading. Have lots of good, simple materials around for Bible study. You may not need commentaries and “fill in the blank” workbooks for study but I have needed them to fall in love with the Bible. I am making a new commitment this year to make Bible study more important than math, science, literature. Children and young people need to be taught with study helps HOW to study the Bible.

4. That God would keep them from the evil one. Pray that God will teach them to “hate every vain thought.” We are born with a nature that is inclined to evil and Satan seeks to entrap our children. They need to be born again and taught what God’s goodness is.

5. That they would have a conscience void of offence before God and man. Pray that their conscience be sensitive and tender. The conscience is our thought life, our motives, our knowledge of good and evil. We can look pretty good on the outside and still have thoughts that are not good. Pray that your children pray silently, inwardly and that part of their thought life is Prayer. Memorizing and meditating on Scripture verses, praying Scripture verses will help with this.

6. That their character would be more valuable to them than their credentials.

7. That they would stand up for what is right even if it means standing alone. Alone……….no young person wants to be alone. Pray that IF they are “alone” in terms of human friendship, that God will give you the Grace and Desire to be their close friend.

8. That they would be kept from the love of money.

9. That they would be kept morally pure, that they would delight in being modest and helping others to be modest in dress, speech and actions. This is such a huge subject, the area where Satan seems to ensnare most of the world. I would love to have conversations with Christian parents about this.

10. That they would have the heart of a servant. That I would model servanthood in such a grateful and loving way. God does help me in this area when I really think about the beauty of servanthood He has laid out for us. That God would cultivate gratefulness in me and them for the ability and desire to be a servant.

11. That eternity would BURN in their hearts! This is a great one. If eternity will burn in their hearts, the short term pleasures of this world will become less appealing.

12. That sin would always be distasteful to them and that they would be broken easily over sin. That God would clearly reveal to them what sin is, that they would have great discernment.

13. That they would love each other. That we would encourage them to be best friends, that we would encourage them to seek to help their brothers and sisters fulfill their goals.

14. That they would trust God with their parents and not allow rebellion to set in. That we as parents would trust God and not have low expectations for our kids. That we as parents would expect them to run past us in their spiritual walk! That we would have the grace to correct them graciously and not wound their spirits.

15. Regardless of the hardship, that they may never become bitter against God.

16. That our boys would be glad to be boys and our girls would be glad to be girls.

This message really made me want to pray. God put urgency into Tom Harmon’s message. Tom was very honest; he told about disappointments and problems in his family. He said that he needed structure in his prayers and admitted he doesn’t always FEEL like praying. He said, “But the devil was after my children; there were several times the smell of his breath was all over them.” A bit graphic, but it sure helped me to see the URGENCY of prayer with and for our children.

He talked about memorizing Scripture and has been able to memorize whole books of the Bible. He said “There is only so much room inside of you, stuff it with the good stuff and it will clean out the bad stuff.” This was very meaningful to me.
He said, “Teach your kids theology, they understand it!”

Tom Harmon has a website at TDHarmon.com. This message is also available on DVD.

I am so grateful to be able to ponder this again and to share it with others.

The Second Annual Bright Lights Father & Daughter Hike!

Count It All Joy

“Yet I see, when God calls a person to anything, and through never so many difficulties, yet He is fully able to carry them through and make them see, and say they have been gainers thereby…I have learned to look beyond present and smaller troubles, and to be quieted under them. As Moses said, ‘Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord” ~Mary Rowlandson~

The year was 1676. The sun was rising on a brisk February morning in the settlement of Lancaster, Massachusetts. Mary Rowlandson and her three children were rudely awakened by horrifying screams and deafening gun shots. Mary’s husband, the Reverend Joseph Rowlandson had traveled to Boston, attempting to organize a militia to keep the Indians from attacking. With a pang of fear, Mary realized he was too late.

Three other houses had been raided and burned before the Indians fell upon the Rowlandson house. Mary had gathered her children and was reaching for the doorknob when bullets shattered through the walls and the house caught fire.

Escaping the flames, Mary and her children watched as their entire town was destroyed. Bodies lay everywhere; some groaning and crying for help, others lying perfectly still. Mary herself was shot through her side and with horror realized the same bullet had wounded the child she carried in her arms. Chaos reigned as Indians screamed, raising their glistening weapons and people cried in pain and fear while their houses crumbled down. Mary and her children were taken captive along with twenty others. Thirteen settlers were killed. The town lay in a heap of smoking ashes.

But there was no time to look back. A rude shove with the end of a rifle caused Mary to stumble after the others. She held on to her children tightly; she could let nothing separate them. Tears filled her eyes as she was torn away from the settlement. What would happen to Joseph when he returned to find no home, no town, no family? Would he know that they were still alive? Would she ever see him again?

The prisoners were made to walk continually, never able to rest, only pushed on. Mary wearily trudged after the long line, the pain in her side increased, but she hardly noticed her own discomfort while tending to her daughter, Sarah. The six year old child’s wound was a severe one and was only worsening. She had caught a fever and Mary had to carry her because she was too weak to walk on her own. Bent under the weight of her sick child, Mary prayed that the Lord would not forget her, but would give her the strength to endure. Finally, the Indians hoisted Mary and Sarah onto a horse behind a warrior. A short while later Sarah died in her mother’s arms.

After three months of captivity and traveling 150 miles, Mary Rowlandson was ransomed and set free on May 2, 1676. Her two surviving children were also released a short while later. She was reunited with her husband in Boston, where they made their new home.
Mary wrote an account of her experiences as an Indian captive and titled it The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, Together with the Faithfulness of His Promises Displayed; Being a Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. What a title for a woman who had suffered tremendously! Her book is more than a story of her captivity; it is a testament to God’s unfailing grace and faithfulness.

Mary had many reasons to be bitter, to complain and be discouraged. But instead, she trusted in the sovereignty of her Lord and viewed her time of suffering as a blessing, because she learned more about God’s grace. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:18. She knew the Lord was in control, knew that He had ordained the path her life would follow before she was born. She said, “Oh, I may see the wonderful power of God, that my spirit did not utterly sink under my affliction: still the Lord upheld me with His gracious and merciful spirit…”

Even though Mary had experienced great suffering, she was able to say “Oh the experience that I have had of the goodness of God, to me and mine!” Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried by fire, might be found unto the praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:6

Oh that we could have the faith and trust of Mary Rowlandson! If we could only view suffering as a way the Lord draws us to Him. If only we would trust that God is sovereign and be content in the fact that though His ways are higher than our ways, they are perfect in every way and are part of His plan for our lives! Are we willing to endure through the fire so we can be brought forth as gold? Are we ready to accept the sufferings in our lives and bring God glory through them? Are we prepared to “…count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience”? (James 1:2)

"Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass." Psalm 37:5. If every earthly possession, loved one, and comfort was taken from us, if we can only say with Job “…the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

“Many men owe the grandeur of their lives to their tremendous difficulties.” ~C.H. Spurgeon~

-From Becky