Are You a Praying Parent?
Lamentations 2:19 says, “Pour out your hearts like water before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children”
Parenting can be a scary venture and we feel overwhelmed at times. There is advice and instructions coming at us from all directions. Some of us had great parenting role models while others did not. No matter what your experience was or is, there is good news: We do not have to parent alone! As believers we have our Heavenly Father to help us through the journey.
In Stormie Omartian’s book, The Power of A Praying Parent, she reassures us that: “We don’t have to be tossed and turned by the winds of change. Our children’s lives don’t ever have to be left to chance. We don’t have to live in fear of what each new phase of development may bring, what dangers might be lurking behind every corner. Nor do we have to be perfect parents. The key is not trying to do it by ourselves, but rather turning to the expert parent of all time – our Father God – for help.”
I believe that it is important to pray for our children and for our children to know that we pray for them regularly. When our children know that we pray for them, they will gain the assurance that we care about them, they feel that they are important to us as well as important to God.
In my own life I have experienced the many benefits of praying for my own children along with the joy and honor of praying with other parents. At some point I came to realize that if God gave me children to raise, it was my responsibility and privilege to come to Him often on their behalf. By joining with other parents to pray for our children we were able to share all the joys of answered prayers and growth in each of our prayer lives. We were also able to support one another through difficult times when we may not know what to pray or may not be able to pray ourselves. I highly encourage everyone to have an army of prayer warriors.
You can start right now. It is never too early and never too late. Every aspect of our children’s lives should be prayed over. Nothing is too trivial nor too big to be lifted in prayer to our God. He cares about even the smallest of our concerns.