Saturday, August 30, 2014

Prayers for our Children: Triplets of Trust



As we saw last week, advice in God’s Word about parenting occurs in patterns of three, reflecting not only His Triune nature but the family trio consisting of mother, father, and child. Scripture tells us to love, discipline, and teach our children about His Word, His nature, and our faith.

Just as Jesus prayed for every child of God, we should pray for our children to be kept in the Name of God, to be kept from evil, and to be sanctified through His truth (John 17:11,15,17). If we follow this and other Biblical wisdom about parenting, we can anticipate many blessings.

We see many examples in Scripture of fathers praying for their children. Abraham prayed that God would not abandon Ishmael, even though he was conceived in opposition to God’s will (Genesis 17:18). In answer to that prayer, God promised to bless Ishmael, to make him the father of twelve princes, and to make him a great nation (v. 20).

Even better, God promised to bless Abraham’s wife Sarah, to give Abraham a son by her, and to make her a mother of nations (v. 16). These were conditional promises, so to show his honoring the covenant with God, Abraham obeyed by circumcising himself, Ishmael, and every male in his household (v. 23-27)

King David prayed that God would spare the life of his first child (2 Samuel 12:16), who was deathly ill and who had been born from David’s sins of lust for Bathsheba, wife of Uriah; adultery with Bathsheba; and murder of Uriah (2 Samuel 11:2-17). He begged God in prayer so intense that he fasted, went in (locked himself in his prayer closet; Matthew 6:6), and prayed all night prostrate upon the earth (2 Samuel 12:16). Paradoxically, when the child died, David cleansed himself, worshipped God, and ate. His cleansing consisted of washing, anointing himself, and changing his clothing (2 Samuel 12:20).

Although God had not answered David’s prayer as he had hoped, David resigned himself to God’s will, saying, “Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” (2 Samuel 12:23).This is an excellent illustration of God knowing what we need far better than we do (Matthew 6:8), so that we can have faith that He will answer the prayer in the best possible way (Romans 8:28).

God allowed David the supernatural understanding that the child was in Heaven where he would one day be reunited with him, for all who turn from their sins and place their faith in God alone are born again  to everlasting life (John 3:3-8, 16).

God dealt with David’s sin by chastising him through the death of his son, yet He responded to David’s prayer by giving him three blessings: faith in eternal life in which he would be united with his son, restored marital relations with Bathsheba, and the birth of a second son, Solomon (2 Samuel 12:24).

David had been a man of war, which prevented him from being the one to complete God’s temple. However, his son Solomon would be suited for this task because God promised him rest from all his enemies and peace and quietness for Israel throughout his lifetime. David prayed for his son Solomon to be a wise ruler over Israel, to serve God, and to build His temple in accordance with God’s will, keeping His commandments, testimonies, and statutes (1 Chronicles 22:8,9,12; 29:19).

But as a good father should, David put his money where his mouth was. In addition to prayer, he supported Solomon’s building of the temple by giving him an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight, He also gave him an abundant supply of timber, stone and skilled workmen for the project (v. 14, 15).

King David supported God’s will for Solomon’s life from his abundant riches. But even if we have only meager financial resources, our children will appreciate, remember and be blessed by our sacrificing to help pay for their education, development of their talents, missions trips, or other opportunities in accordance with God’s specific plan for their lives.

The Bible tells us God’s general will for every child, which is to be saved (2 Peter 3:9), to love God and love one another (Matthew 22:36-40), to keep His commandments (John 14:15), to pray (1 Thessalonians 5:17), to study and share His Word (2 Timothy 4:2), to witness (Matthew 28:19-20), to be faithful to church (Hebrews 10:25), to tithe (Malachi 3:8-10), etc.

We also need to pray that God’s specific will be fulfilled in our child’s life, calling on His promise to think of them with thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give us His desired outcome. If we call on Him, we will pray to Him, and He will listen to us. When we search for Him with all our heart, we shall seek Him and find Him (Jeremiah 29:11-13). It’s never too early to start praying or God’s will for our children’s higher education, career, and even for their future spouse.

As we pray for our children, we can have faith that God knows, protects and loves them even more than we do, understanding their every thought, word and deed. He knows where they have been and where they will go and guides them with His hand where they are. He knew them before they were even conceived, designed their unique being, and guided their development during gestation. He created every child to be marvelous, fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:1-16).

May we pray earnestly for our children as Jesus prayed for us!  May they grow in God’s grace as Jesus did, physically, mentally and spiritually, increasing in wisdom, stature, and in favor with God and man (Luke 2:52),


© 2014 Laurie Collett
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13 comments:

Nina said...

Dear Laurie, A wonderful encouragement to keep on praying - and to pray even more - for out children! I love the examples from the Old Testament - the solid faith and obedience ... and role models for us. Blessings to your Sunday and the week ahead, Laurie!

Nadwrażliwiec said...

One Polish writer in her book for youth wrote very wise thing: "In opposite to all stereotypes, the worst enemies we have in our families. This is because we trust them the most". Wars between nations are awful, but wars in families are less abstract and are reality for a lot of people.
Heartly greetings from Bosnia and Herzegovina, where I saw a lot of testimonies of God's work in Creation and lovely weather :)

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks so much, Nina, for your kind comment! I'm so glad God gave us these wonderful example of real people struggling with the same issues we all do, and facing them with faith.

And thanks so much for following Saved by Grace! May you have a blessed week in Him!
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

So true, Zim -- it is especially painful when we are hurt or betrayed by someone in our family. Jesus said that He would divide families, because some in the family would follow Him and others would not. May all our family and loved ones be saved, so that we would not be divided on this single most important question, and so that we would be reunited with them in Heaven.
praise God for His work in Bosnia and Herzegovina!
God bless you,
Laurie

Frank E. Blasi said...

Dear Laurie,
How King David felt about his ill firstborn from Bathsheba was the best way for God to reveal the sin in his heart. Also David had the right attitude towards children, how they were created by God in order to have a relationship with him.
What a contrast to the atitude of our so called "civilised" society where abortion is the accepted thing if the unborn was unfortunate enough to get in the way of her mother's career or social life.
Lately, there has been reports of a scandal in the British press about a surrogate mother who gave birth to a child with Down's Syndrome. The adoptive mother declared that she did not want a "dribbling imbecile" in the house with her, and the baby girl was rejected, leaving her to grow up with her birth mother.
As Paul wrote to Timothy: "In the latter days there will be...lack of natural affection...(2 Timothy 3:3.)
Another well-written blog. God bless.

Unknown said...

This is a wonderful post! And such an important topic. May God hear our prayers as our children learn to seek His favour in obedience to His will for their lives.

Laurie Collett said...

Dear Frank,
Thanks as always for your astute comment. It is so true that the more society "advances," the more primitive we become, sacrificing our children for convenience. Yet those who promote abortion fail to mention the consequences for the mother. We just attended the funeral of a beautiful 18 year-old girl who moved in with her boyfriend, got pregnant, had an abortion, moved back home with her parents, and hung herself. When will we realize that God's plan is best for all of us?
A sad example you cite, and yet it may turn out to be a blessing for the child and for her birth mother who now has the privilege of raising her.
God bless,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks so much, Marie! Amen to God hearing our prayers, and those of our children, as we earnestly seek His will for their lives.
May you have a blessed week in Him!
Laurie

Donald Fishgrab said...

Raising children to serve the Lord is such and important part of our christian responsibility yet is so often relegated to only a minor place, with more emphasis on their learning to excel at sports or having a good social life, When we work with God, rather than doing it our way, the other things will automatically turn out right,

Laurie Collett said...

Amen, Donald! May His priorities be ours, and may we seek His will in everything, especially regarding our children.
God bless,
Laurie

Unknown said...

As I've matured in Christ I've seen my prayers for my children being answered more and more, but only if they are in line with God's will. It's true what you write that we have to remember they are really God's children first and foremost.

Laurie Collett said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Laurie Collett said...

Dear Laura,
Thanks so much for your insightful comment. It is so true that as we mature as Christians, our desires become more aligned with His will, and He is more likely to honor our prayers expressing these desires for our children. He loves our children even more than we do!
Many blessings to you,
Laurie