![]() ![]() ![]() “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). Pray for them to learn about God – to learn about the Bible, about Jesus, about the gospel – and for those times of devotions to be meaningful. On the other hand, we are meant to train them in the teaching of Jesus and the Bible. We are not meant to sneer or use words to tear them down. We are not meant to neglect them so they become disappointed or directionless. On the one hand, we are not meant to ask so much of them that they become embittered or discouraged. Parents are called to train their children. I pray they would never feel what Esau and Jacob must have felt (Genesis 25:28), but know that they are loved with a prodigious love by their heavenly Father and their human father (Luke 15:24). The Bible, particularly the Old Testament, is full of stories of children acting out of jealousy or a lack of security. It is one thing to say that you love someone it is another thing for that person to believe that you do love them. I pray that each member of the family would know that they are loved by me and by God. It is easy to grow up even in a loving family and feel as if you don’t belong or be tempted towards jealousy to other members of the family. “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13).ĥ. Therefore, I pray each day that the Lord would protect each member of my family physically and spiritually. I am also aware that I am not omnipresent or omnipotent, that this world is a dangerous place, and that much goes on of which I am unaware and unable to predict. I am very aware of my responsibility to protect my family. That verse from 2 Thessalonians quoted above continues “…and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power” (2 Thessalonians 1:11). I want all the ideas and work that are prompted by their faith in God to be fulfilled in them. And I pray that our children would find that task and complete it so that, like Jesus, they will accomplish the work that God gives them to do (John 17:4). But I believe all Christians have a task given to them by God. Some may give their lives to working at home some may give their lives to working in the church some may give their lives to working as a banker or a politician. “We always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling…” (2 Thessalonians 1:11). I don’t want them just to “follow the rules.” I want them to be shaped by Christ and his Spirit through his Word, so that they become more and more all that God designed them to be. I pray that they would grow up to be the kind of people that God wants them to be. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). We want them to put their trust in Jesus, which means committing their lives to him personally. We want them to know the love of the Lord Jesus. I pray, “Lord, may they love you and know that they are loved by you.” Ultimately, and above all, we want our children to be saved. So surely it should come naturally for us to pray for our families?īut despite this logic, we probably all (at least from time to time) struggle with praying for our families. And we all know that family is important. We all know that prayer is important, at least in theory.
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