It Is Not An Option

My 10 year old son Gavin is 100% committed to making sure we pray with him before he goes to bed. He will start asking thirty minutes prior to bedtime to make sure we do not forget to pray with him. He has even woken me up at 2 a.m. very distressed that we did not pray before he fell asleep. Gavin sincerely believes that he can not end the day or prepare for the next without prayer. He is incomplete and unsettled in his spirit if he doesn't make sure we speak the word of God into him before he closes his eyes. #ProudMom #ChallengedMom

While listening and laughing with him before we did our nightly prayer a few evenings ago, I had a physical ache in my heart. That feeling you get when you just know you have forgotten something important. You know what I am talking about, the moment the "mommy light bulb" comes on. Or we can just call it what it really is, the Holy Spirit speaking to our hearts. What I heard was "You are responsible for teaching him how to pray. You are teaching him how to believe My Word for exactly what it says; to be able to speak my promises with confidence through out his entire life."

My typical night time prayer goes something like this ~ "Jesus be with Gavin tonight. Please keep him safe. Help him to rest peacefully. Please watch over him tomorrow at school. Help him to have a good day."

 I'm not knocking that prayer. God knows our heart. I'm sure He understands when we are tired and just want to hurry the prayer along to get the kids to bed. At least I hope he understands. Be honest, you know what I'm talking about. I am suggesting  that we may at times miss something so much bigger and more amazing that our children need to know. 

 We tend to ask God for things that he has already spoken over our lives; asking for promises that have already been spoken over our children."Light bulb moment", I have been teaching my boys to ask for what has already been given. Confession on myself, I am guilty of getting upset with the boys for repetitive asking of things that I have already given them the answer for. Haven't you?

         Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not                                                                                                                                           depart from it."

~ To  train up means to teach
~ To ask God for something will require us       to be teachable
~ To speak the promises into a life will              build a lasting foundation of believing            God for who he is.

                      1 Corinthians 15:2 says " If you are saved HOLD FIRM to the word."

 Our children need us to stand firm on the word and display our own trust that God "will" meet our needs, He "will' protect us, He "will" give us peace, He "will" be our defender. Those promises have already been freely given.  

Can you even imagine what would happen if we, daily, spoke the promises of God into our children. They may just learn to stand confident knowing who God created them to be. They may just grasp that the "Cross" was for them.

 ~ To my child,
Father, thank you for entrusting me with my children.  I will do my best to guard their heart from the things that are not of You. Holy Spirit - dwell in them and guide their steps. You have promised to meet their needs, protect them and give them peace that passes all things. Since they are Your child, all Your promises are given to them when they accept you as their Savior. When they face trials in life, teach them to trust in Your perfect will in all things. Help them desire Your will not their own.  I will help them hide the Your Word in their heart to be a shield from all things the enemy will use against them. To deny Christ is not an option for their life.

However..If they fall, if their faith becomes weak, if their heart is broken and questioning, remind them that You will never leave or forsake them because You have called them by name. May they never forget that I will always be their mom.  May they never doubt my love for them. Daily, I will speak Your promises over them. I will stand firm and trust that everything You promised is for them. 

               "But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know the truth."
                                                                                                                              1 John 2:2                                              
                 In Jesus name I speak these promises over my children's lives . Amen.  ~