Parenting
and Prayer
by Teresa Bell Kindred
Now
that my children are older, I like to
think I’m a little wiser when it comes to
parenting. However, I still make mistakes.
I
know there is a commercial that
advertises “the toughest job you’ll ever
love,” or something similar. That’s
parenting!
As
far as I’m concerned there is no job
harder than parenting and I can’t imagine
doing it without my Father’s help. However,
there is nothing more important or precious to
our Father, and our future, than parenting.
Our
youngest children (our twin boys)
are
eleven now. Our oldest son just turned
21.
Our daughter is eighteen and our
middle son is about to turn 16 (another
one
driving!). The years of bottles, diapers,
and
late night rocking sessions are over.
They
have been replaced with car keys,
curfews, and eye rolling. In some ways,
parenting is harder now. In other ways it
is
easier. I tell people that I don’t have
any
memory of the first few years after the
twins were born. I’m exaggerating of
course, but those were busy, busy years.
As
the mother of five, I have always
prayed for my children. As they have
grown older, he amount of time I spend in
prayer for them has grown as well. I pray
for
them throughout the day about a
variety of things. I pray about their health,
their choice of careers, who they date,
their future spouse, and their spiritual life.
In
short, I pray for all their needs. We can
give
our children too many material things,
we
can let young children eat too much
junk
food, but we can never pray for them
too
much!
I
praise God not only for entrusting them
to
my care, and also for the wonders He
is
working in their lives. Remember Job?
He’s
probably most famous for his
patience and faith. I remember him as a
concerned and caring parent.
Job 1:5
describes Job in this way:
”...Early in the morning he would sacrifice
a
burnt offering for each of them, thinking,
‘Perhaps my children and sinned and
cursed God in their hearts.’ This was
Job’s regular custom.”
I am
a firm believer that praying for our
children is one of the most important
things a parent can do and I’m not afraid
or
ashamed to ask others to pray for them
as
well. Why? Because I love them
beyond measure, just like God loves us.
I
have no doubt in my mind that if one
of
my children were standing in the middle
of
the road and a car was about to hit
them, I would jump in front of that car and
try
to rescue my child. No matter how
much
it hurt me, no matter what the cost.
And
that’s exactly what God did for us.
We
are the child in the middle of the road
and
Satan is the car headed straight at
us.
God loved us enough to send Jesus to
rescue us. Jesus loved us enough to die
on
the cross for our sins so we could be
His
brothers and sisters. Love is a great
motivator. That’s why we will pray fervently
for
our children.
We
ought to be especially concerned over
“lost sheep” children. Jesus said,
“Suppose one of you has a hundred
sheep and loses one of them. Does he not
leave the ninety-nine in the open country
and go after the lost sheep until he find it?
And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on
his shoulders and goes home. Then he
calls his friends and neighbors together
and says, “Rejoice with me; I have found
my lost sheep.”
(Luke
15:4-7)
Even
if none of our children fit the “lost
sheep” category, we all know someone
who
has a child that does. Perhaps there
is
someone you know whose heart is
aching because of a wayward child. Make
a
commitment to pray daily for them and
for
that child. Let them know you are
going to God on their behalf. More than
your
sympathy, they need your prayers!
Time
passes quickly and our children
will
be gone from our houses, but never
from
our hearts. So let’s keep them in our
prayers!
“Be joyful
always, pray continually,
give thanks
in all circumstances,
for this is
God’s will
for
you in
Christ
Jesus.”
(1
Thessalonians 5:16-17)
