Parents in this day and age have quite a big plate to fill when it comes to raising children. High grocery costs, ridiculous gas prices, and rent that increases every year due to housing inflation are just a portion of what parents have to deal with when trying to provide for their children. Quite frankly, all of these important aspects don’t even begin to cover the entire parenting plate. As we strive to be Godly parents, we have even bigger plates to fill and living in this world doesn’t make it easy.
My two oldest children are at the age where they can be swayed one way or the other very easily depending on who is pitching the sale. We work very hard to stay on top of what they see and hear but we are not with them every second and as a result they can pick up things we hope they do not very quickly. Being a spiritually protective parent should be just as important as being physically protective. I am almost certain that a majority of parents would not hesitate to protect their children from an enemy that threatened to cause them physical harm. In essence, as Christian parents we also fight to protect our children from another enemy that seeks to cause more than just physical harm. He seeks to steal, kill, and destroy them both in this life and the next. How do we shield our children from an enemy that we cannot see and is always plotting and planning his next move of temptation and destruction?
I have but one answer and the answer is prayer. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). Prayer is the only answer to fighting an unseen enemy. My parents would often pray for us before we went to school and slather our foreheads with blessed oil. As a child I would complain about the greasy residue left by the oil and how I could get it off before the bus full of my peers arrived. Now, as a parent myself, I can appreciate their dedication to prayer and the benefits of protection and blessing it offered on a daily basis.
I would equate praying for your children to brushing your teeth or putting on deodorant. If you miss doing either you will soon see (and most certainly smell) the consequences of why you shouldn’t have. Prayer can be the missing link to harmony in your home, peace between siblings, or even as simple as not losing your cool because you’ve had to pick up the same dirty pair of socks over and over again in the middle of floor.
We can all ask God how to effectively pray for our children and it does not require a fancy dialogue. “For we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26). As parents we can trust the spirit of God to direct our prayers for our children and I cannot think of a better source to depend on for guidance. Your children may not fully understand the power or the necessity that daily prayer can offer them, but the short term and long term benefits far outweigh any temporary lack of understanding. I pray that we all make a commitment to pray for our children daily. We can’t afford not to. Love you all:)
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