Pray for your Children

Here's Brennan, my "little knucklehead." 

"Children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward." Psalm 127:3

I could've never imagined the joy I would experience by having a child. Yet, almost immediately I sensed the responsibility that I would have to lead my wife & my children in spiritual leadership. I am learning to be more vocal in my leadership & praying to God that He would help me take more initiative in things such as family Scripture study, prayer, & service. Although I tend to be very passionate about my convictions, sometimes I do not communicate them as well as I would like; I tend to expect people to read my thoughts. I think sometimes the difficulty for well-intentioned men in leading their families is that they lack a practical way to lead their family toward godliness. I have been encouraged by my men's group & the different ways in which they seek to lead their families; I will share further insight in subsequent posts. But for today, I would like to offer you some prayers to pray over your children & others' children. I would like to thank my wife for pointing me to these. If you have family devotion times that work for you, I would love to hear more about them & how you go about doing so. 

That they will have a real born again experience and come to know God personally. (John 3:3)

That they will have soft, tender hearts to hear the voice of the Lord and that they will walk humbly before Him. ((Isaiah 57:15; 66:2; 1 Peter 5:5-6)

That they will love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. (Mark 12:50)

That God will pour out His Holy Spirit upon them. (Isaiah 44:3-4)

That they will love the Word of God, love to pray, and love to fellowship with the saints. (1 Peter 2:2; Psalm 55:17; Hebrews 10:25)

That they will love righteousness and hate evil. (Psalm 97:10; 101:3; Amos 5:15; John 17:15-16; Romans 12:9)

That they will hate lies and deception and seek after truth. (Psalm 51:6; 119:30; 163; Proverbs 12:22; 13:5; 19:9)

That they will stand up for truth and never compromise; that they will stand and keep on standing against all opposition. (Ephesians 6:13-14)

That they will hate the spirit of this world, but instead, bring God's love and salvation to the needy in this world. (John 17:18; Philippians 2:15; 1 John 2:15-17)

That they will understand true justice and have discernment regarding good and evil, the holy and the profane. (Leviticus 10:10; Isaiah 59:14-15; Jeremiah 15:19; Ezekiel 22:26)

That they will seek God with all their hearts. (Psalm 27:8; 105:4; 119:2; Proverbs 28:5; Zephaniah 2:3)

That their whole spirit, soul and body will be kept pure and blameless unto the coming of the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

That God will give them godly wives and husbands. (2 Corinthians 6:14-18)

That they will love and embrace children and establish godly homes. (Psalm 27 and 28: Malachi 2:15)

That God will keep them from accident, harm, sickness and danger, and all enemy attack. (Psalm 91)