Praying for Compassion and Kindness

October 2020

Our prayers for our teens are typically geared for keeping them safe, making sure they are making the right choices, and protecting them every step they take. Those are all great things to be praying for but we need to also remember to pray for our teens to be kind and compassionate to others. Just like we can not keep them from harm's way, we also can not make sure they are being kind to their peers. So as parents, we are called to pray that they are given opportunities to be kind to others and it is important that we also model it for them. 

When an opportunity arises for our teen to be kind we can see how it plays out. If they make the right choice we can see our prayer being answered, which then will encourage us as parents to keep praying. If our teen misses that opportunity to be kind, it will make a good learning experience and will give us as parents an opportunity to guide them on how they should have handled the situation. Then, we step back and pray for another opportunity and pray that our teen can be successful in being kind. 

Seeing our prayers answered (even the littlest ones) will increase your faith, and with that faith will come confidence when we pray. These “little” prayers of confidence will help us through those times when we can not physically see God working.  Because when we pray, we don’t pray for what God has done for us but we pray for who he is. God is good and God is love.

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Prayers you can use: 

Heavenly Father;

Thank you for the compassion that your have shown to us. I pray that _____ would follow your example, being compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in love. -Psalm 103:8

Let _____ open his arms to the poor and extend his hands to the needy, honoring you by his kindness. -Proverbs 31:20; 14:31

As _____ gets dressed each day, please clothe her with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. -Colossians 3:12

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Join us on Monday, October 19th at 9:30am for the Next Generations Prayer meeting.

For more scripture based prayers for this topic please email me amoll@harvestpittsburghnorth.org 

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Citation:

Berndt, Jodie. 2007, Praying the Scriptures for Your Teen. pgs. 65-72

VBS 2020!

VBS 2020!

Was a Huge Success!

In August, HBC had their very first VBS! This was a huge step for our church!.We had over 30 volunteers which included our awesome youth group! Our theme was Mystery Island and learned all about how our God is Almighty, Ruler, Emmanuel, and Trustworthy.

Each night we had about 30 kids show up which were split into 4 different teams! They traveled through our island and played games, had snacks, learned new songs, had lesson time with Pirate Blonde Beard and Pirate Molly, did crafts and got to do some science experiments. We also learned about our missionary friends over in Thailand and were able to raise $100 for them!

All the kids had such a wonderful time. Parents have told me their kids are still singing the songs and pretending to still have VBS in their homes! I can't tell you how happy this makes me and encourages me to do it again next year! Here is a little video of our fun filled week! 

Praying Scriptures for Physical Health and Safety for Our Children

September 2020

If there is ever a time to be praying for our children’s health and safety it is now. This year has been filled with a lot of scary things. With Covid-19 and the new light that is being shone on child sex trafficking, there is no better time to start praying against these evils with the best weapon God has given us…. Prayer. 

It is inevitable that our children are going to get sick or hurt. That doesn’t mean God is not looking out for them. God loves our children more than we do. He is always alert and on the job. When He allows our children to become ill or allows something to happen, it is not to punish us but that the work of God might be displayed in their lives. It is important that during those times to not focus on the problem but put all of your focus on God and His purpose. 

Isaiah 55:8-9 says “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways declares the Lord as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Our first response to anything that is not planned is most likely not lined up with God’s thinking. Satan will always try to discourage and defeat us. But God can take a tragedy and turn it into a triumph. He does this for those who love Him. We need to pray with confidence that what Satan wants to use to harm us, God will use for good. Here are some verses to help us be confident: 

•  Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” God promises he hears us. 

• Isaiah 55:11 “ So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to be empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it”. God will accomplish his desires and purposes. 

• Romans 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” I know God loves our children and he wants what is best for them and he will work all things out for the good. 

The bible doesn’t tell us that life is going to be easy if you are a christian, it actually tells us the opposite. It tells us that we are going to have difficult times. But those hard times will build our faith, patience and strength. So during those times our children become ill or something bad happens, remember God is always in control and to keep our eyes on Him and open to how this will help write our child’s testimony or even ours.

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Here is an example of one of the scripture based prayers we will use: 

Heavenly Father: 

I pray that _____ will enjoy good health and that all will go well with him. 

3 John 2 

Let _____ take refuge in you and be glad; let him ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over _____ that he may rejoice in you. 

Psalm 5:11

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Join us on Sunday, September 20th at 6pm for the Next Generations Prayer meeting.

For more scripture based prayers for this topic please email me amoll@harvestpittsburghnorth.org 

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Citation:

Berndt, Jodie. Praying Scriptures for Your Children.  Pgs 109-119. 2001

Bible (ESV)

Blessing and Releasing your Adult Children

August 2020

Watching our children grow is one of the best things but also one of the hardest. That is why it is never too early or too late to start praying blessings over your child. In the book “The Love Dare for Parents”, The authors state that to bless someone means to “speak well” of that person. When a parent blesses their child it is verbally affirming their child for who they are and also encourages them for a successful future. Our adult children’s needs may be all different but they could always use a prayer of blessing. Praying for their well being needs to be one of our top priorities.We need to remember that our words can carry a lot of weight in our kids lives and we should always be looking for opportunities to see and talk to our children on how God is using their gifts and talents. This will also help them see that their lives have value and purpose. It will give them a good self-esteem, confidence and know that they are loved.  

Do we still pray a blessing over our children even if they are not walking with the Lord or making choices that don’t line up with what we think they should be doing? The answer is, YES! No matter what our kids' choices are in life, whether good or bad, we are called to love them. We can’t control their choices or their lifestyle, we need to leave that to God. We just need to love and let them know our love isn't conditional. We should always be pointing out how grateful we are to see where God is using their gifts in life. This will be hard to do but a blessing isn’t an endorsement. It is an acknowledgment that we are not trying to control our child’s future but we are handing it over to God. Trusting God will give them a vision for using their gifts and talents. 

A blessing prayer can also lead to a prayer of releasing. We need to release our children into God’s protecting arms and affirm them with what they are doing. As we pray God’s blessing on our children, we need to release our plans we have for them and trust that God will accomplish what His plans are. When we take scripture and use them to pray over our children we are covering them with the presence of Christ. 

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Here is an example of one of the scripture based prayers we will use: 

For Yourself: 

Heavenly Father…

Let my words be helpful for building my children up according to their needs, so that what I say will be a benefit to them. 

Ephesians 4:29

For Your Children:

Heavenly Father…

Bless _____ and keep him; may your face shine on him. Turn your face toward _____ and give him peace. 

Numbers 6:24-26

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Join us on Sunday August 23rd, at 4:30pm for the next Next Generations Prayer meeting.

For more scripture based prayers for this topic please email me amoll@harvestpittsburghnorth.org 

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Citation:

Berndt, Jodie. Praying Scriptures for Your Adult Children. 2017. Pg 27-39