I've been convicted about praying more for my kids - this is the closest thing I have to a New Year's Resolution. Maybe like me you believe in praying for your kids but would like to move past "Please Lord, let her go to sleep" or "Guide my child to remember to hang up his jacket before I explode mom guts all over him" or "God, if you will help us to make it out of the grocery store without needing a mop or an ambulance I promise I'll volunteer in the church nursery Sunday." Now don't get me wrong, God hears mom-crisis prayers in all varying degrees of lucidity. I'm convinced that the little pleas for "help" I send throughout the day keep me connected to Him and often provide just the deep breath I need. But there has to be more.
So today I fished out this little copy of verses to pray for your kids out of my Supermom binder of good ideas and intentions and picked out a few to help me remember to make this privilege a priority. I believe that my kids are held in the hand of God, but even as I trust Him with these precious ones I want to be cooperating with His goals for them.
I want to see the miraculous reality of my kids' lives reflecting the content of my prayers over them.... the deliberate and Scripture-filled prayer that echoes God's own plans and desires.
So today I fished out this little copy of verses to pray for your kids out of my Supermom binder of good ideas and intentions and picked out a few to help me remember to make this privilege a priority. I believe that my kids are held in the hand of God, but even as I trust Him with these precious ones I want to be cooperating with His goals for them.
Here are some verses I love, with some comments because I can't help myself. I like to read and especially pray verses in different translations to keep them new and thought-provoking in my heart and mind.
Proverbs 4:23 (New Living Translation)
Proverbs 4:23 (New Living Translation)
"Guard your heart above all else,
for it determines the course of your life."
What a great verse for kids as they face battles for their attachments every day.
for it determines the course of your life."
What a great verse for kids as they face battles for their attachments every day.
Psalm 33:20-22 (English Standard Version)
"20Our soul waits for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.
21For our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
22Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us,
even as we hope in you."
This is a great family passage full of pleas for protection and statements of trust.
he is our help and our shield.
21For our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
22Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us,
even as we hope in you."
This is a great family passage full of pleas for protection and statements of trust.
Proverbs 1:10 (American Standard Version)
"My son, if sinners entice thee, Consent thou not."
This one kinda cracks me up and I love this translation....this one definitely "prays" well. It lectures well too! Personally I might add an "est" to the end of "consent" for added flair. This is just too true and rolls off the tongue so easily.
This one kinda cracks me up and I love this translation....this one definitely "prays" well. It lectures well too! Personally I might add an "est" to the end of "consent" for added flair. This is just too true and rolls off the tongue so easily.
1 Corinthians 15:33 (Contemporary English Version)
"Don't fool yourselves. Bad friends will destroy you."
A favorite of our youth minister....and a great truth to pray over kids especially on those panic days when it seems my influence is fading compared to that of friends!
A favorite of our youth minister....and a great truth to pray over kids especially on those panic days when it seems my influence is fading compared to that of friends!
Isaiah 54:13 (Amplified Bible)
"And all your children shall be disciples [taught by the Lord and obedient to His will], and great shall be the peace and undisturbed composure of your children."
Ah, great peace and undisturbed composure in the lives of my kids? Yes please, and some for me too. What great specific requests!
Ah, great peace and undisturbed composure in the lives of my kids? Yes please, and some for me too. What great specific requests!
Colossians 1:9-12 (Contemporary English Version)
"9We have not stopped praying for you since the first day we heard about you. In fact, we always pray that God will show you everything he wants you to do and that you may have all the wisdom and understanding that his Spirit gives.
10Then you will live a life that honors the Lord, and you will always please him by doing good deeds. You will come to know God even better.
11His glorious power will make you patient and strong enough to endure anything, and you will be truly happy.
12I pray that you will be grateful to God for letting you have part in what he has promised his people in the kingdom of light."
An all-time favorite and my life-long goal and prayer for my kids. This is a unique list of qualities to pray over children. With all my heart I pray that this can be a eulogy for each of them at the end of lives well-lived.
So maybe you will join me in praying for the kids around you - your children or grandchildren, kids you see in your neighborhood or that give you a hug on Sunday mornings - what a privilege to talk about them to the Father. Truly the best kind of tattling.
An all-time favorite and my life-long goal and prayer for my kids. This is a unique list of qualities to pray over children. With all my heart I pray that this can be a eulogy for each of them at the end of lives well-lived.
So maybe you will join me in praying for the kids around you - your children or grandchildren, kids you see in your neighborhood or that give you a hug on Sunday mornings - what a privilege to talk about them to the Father. Truly the best kind of tattling.
My daily prayer for my kids is:
ReplyDeletePhilippians 1:9-10 NASB
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ