Please Pray For My Children

One of the things I loved about my mom, was that she never stood in our way regarding our quest for God. I’ll never forget the first day she visited the church down the street from our house. The moderator asked if anyone had a testimony, and my mom stood up and asked the church to, “please pray for my children”. My mother was not a theologian, but she did teach us the word of God and had us memorize portions of the Psalms. Even to this day, those verses are still etched on our hearts and my siblings and I repeat them whenever we end our online prayer. I'm not saying my mother did everything right, but I do appreciate her effort to train us up according to the scriptures. As I look at each of my siblings, we are all walking with the Lord and at a place where He can work in us. As I look back on my own childhood, there are many things I wish my parents did differently; however, God graciously used their shortcomings to shape me into the person I am today.

In today’s blog, I want to focus on the question, “are we preparing our children for eternity?” As I look at the current, younger generation, I often question the child rearing practices of today’s parents. We seem to have little to no zeal to spend time with our children in the Word of God and prayer. We drive them to swimming, basketball, dance or the movies, but often opt out when Sunday School or anything to do with spiritual disciplines is offered. As long as I can remember, my husband and I made the sacrifice to take our children to service, Sunday School or youth meeting. We understood our children’s spiritual lives were important, and must be our first priority as their parents. Furthermore, we wanted our children to develop a habit of sacrificing certain pleasures for the sake of meeting spiritual needs.

Parents, we really have to evaluate our priorities and question whether we are investing in our children’s lives, and if so, do those investments reap eternal benefits. As parents, we often fail to have an eternal mindset regarding our children. We are more concerned about them making the basketball team or an Ivy League school rather than entering into the Kingdom of Heaven. We would rather pay money for the latest cellphone or clothing than pay for resources that will develop their spirituality. We often forget that our children are souls with an eternal resting place, and what we do now determines where their souls will rest. Remember, the Lord has entrusted us with these children, and it’s our responsibility to train them up in the way they should grow, so when they are old they will not depart - it starts with us. One beneficial practice is self - evaluation. We often think we are doing our best, but sometimes it’s helpful to pause, and ask ourselves hard questions.

When was the last time I prayed for or together with my children?

When was the last time we met as a family to have a bible study?.

Am I giving my children more material things than spiritual disciplines?

Am I more concerned with being my children’s friend rather than their spiritual leader?

Am I preparing my children to meet Jesus?

It grieves my heart to witness how some Christian parents live, especially in front of their children. They disrespect one another, gossip about neighbours, coworkers or church members, slander their Pastors, and in all of this, they forget their children are witnessing such behaviour. Parents, how you train your child dictates how they will grow. If you want respectful, honest, generous and God - fearing children, then you must train them in such manner; remembering that training includes both instruction and modelling. Whatever you are instructing your children to do, you must also model that desired behaviour. Children are a blankslate and learn everything from their external environment. If what you want your children to do, then you do first.

On the other hand, I encourage parents to create a forum where their children feel safe to open up and ask questions. As a parent, you can ask your child(ren) how you are performing, and genuinely listen and evaluate their responses; our children see our true colours and are in the best position to provide an honest report of our parenting. In addition, we must be willing to provide godly counsel for our children, or they will look for counsel elsewhere and often in the wrong places. We have too many young men and women struggling with their identity and looking to social media, friends or relationships for validation. Our children are trying so hard to fit in, that at times they’ll do anything just to be accepted.

Fellow parents, I’m encouraging you to spend as much time as possible with your children; reassure them of who they are, based on who God says they are in His word. Love your children and do not provoke them to anger. Our children are gifts from God. Spend time with them. Pray with them. Laugh with them. Do crazy and fun things with them. And most importantly, let them hear you crying out to God on their behalf. Stop comparing them to other children and pressuring them to follow suit - they are unique with their own journey. Suffer long with them and trust God with their hearts, for God did not call us to change our children, he called us to train them.

After reading this, you may be thinking you failed as a parent, but thank God for redemption. You may have hurt, under - disciplined or neglected your children, and rightfully so, you should humbly approach them and ask for forgiveness. Nevertheless, be reminded that you are an imperfect picture of your perfect Heavenly Father. Don’t try to measure up to the perfect parent you were never meant to be - leave that job to God.