November 2020
If we go way back to Deuteronomy, we can see that God cares for our relationships with our children. Deuteronomy 5:16 Says “ Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land that Lord your God is giving you”. This relationship with our children will play a large role in their relationship with God. Once our children learn how to love, trust, and obey us as parents, it will then lead to them to learn how to love, trust and obey God. Taking time to pray for our relationship with our children also invites God to bless our lives and fulfill His promise to us.
You may ask what about if we have a difficult child. How are we to have a relationship with them? Our job as parents is to simply love them and let God do the rest. Jodie Berndt states that “ Love is a decision, not an emotion. Prayerfully purposing to follow your head rather than your heart can help you love your children- even when they act more like porcupines than children” (pg. 189). We can always pray, asking God to show us how to best love our children.
It is also important to be a good example to your children. They will see how you prayerfully depend on God. Eventually they will see past your weakness and see how you rely on God for your strength. This will also show them you are human and not some higher power they can’t relate to.
Another way to have a good relationship with your children is to pray and ask God to make you the wife and mother He wants you to be. We don’t need to just pray asking God to shape our children, we need to be asking God to shape us too.We can also find an older mother who has a relationship with their children like one you would like to have with yours. Watch what she does then turn those into prayers. Titus 2:3-4 “Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior not slanders or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the younger women to love their husbands and children.” Older women are supposed to be looking out and trying to help younger wives and moms. And always be on the lookout to be helping other moms too.
Three examples of prayers you can use for yourself is, to ask God to give you time with your kids and to have an eagerness to spend time together. Ask God to help you see discipline as a gift rather than a necessary evil. And ask God to show you how to point your kids toward Jesus.
Prayers you can use:
Heavenly Father:
Cause _____ to obey us, for this is right. Let him honor us, his father and mother, so that it may go well with him and that he may enjoy a long life on earth. —Ephesians 6:4
Let _____ listen to his father’s instructions, and never forsake his mother’s teaching. Let _____ love wisdom and therefore bring joy to our hearts. —Proverbs 1:8 ; 29:3
Turn our hearts toward our children, and our children’s hearts toward us. —Malachi 4:6
Join us on Wednesday, November 18th at 9:30am for the Next Generations Prayer meeting.
For more scripture based prayers for this topic please email me amoll@harvestpittsburghnorth.org
Citation:
Berndt, Jodie; Praying the Scriptures For your Children. 2001.