Let’s Pray For Our Children

Psalm 127:3 (NLT)
³ Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.
Isaiah 54:13 (NLT)
¹³ I will teach all your children, and they will enjoy great peace.
2 Thessalonians 3:3 (NLT)
³ But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.^[a]
1 John 5:14  (NLT)
¹⁴ And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.
Psalm 46:1 (NLT)
¹ God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.

From the time our daughter started kindergarten until the end of her senior year in high school, we prayed for her each morning before school. 

Our routine went like this; while I was driving I would ask her to start our prayer. She would pray over her day and for our family, and then I would pray for her safety, for her teachers and all of the school administrators.  I also prayed for her friends, and I asked God to bless her with friends that had a desire to honor Him by being obedient to those in authority at her school. By the time we were finished praying, it was time for her to get out of the car.  This happened every morning without fail, and on the mornings that her dad took her, they did the same thing.

God Has The Final Say

Proverbs 19:21 (NLT)
21 You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.
Proverbs 21:1 (NLT)
21 The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord;
  he guides it wherever he pleases.
Proverbs 16:9 (NKJV)
9 A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.

Once again God has reminded me that I am not running anything.  This summer has been so full of twist and turns and ups and downs, that it has been absolutely unbelievable.

Many of the things that my husband and that I had planned, fell apart or had to be canceled for one reason or the other.

I had purchased a ticket to attend a convention that I have attended for the past 24 years, and I had to cancel at the last minute due to some health issues that I have been dealing with. I had looked so forward to this event all year because it was the 55th Anniversary Celebration of the company that I work for.   Another reason I wanted to attend, was that I was supposed to receive several awards this year, that I had worked really hard for. Because this 55th Anniversary Celebration would be one to remember for a lifetime, I had planned to be there with bells on for sure, but that was just not going to happen.

Praising God Through Your Trials

Acts 16:19-30  (NLT)
¹⁹ Her masters’ hopes of wealth were now shattered, so they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace. ²⁰ “The whole city is in an uproar because of these Jews!” they shouted to the city officials. ²¹ “They are teaching customs that are illegal for us Romans to practice.”
²² A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. ²³ They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. ²⁴ So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks.
²⁵ Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. ²⁶ Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! ²⁷ The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. ²⁸ But Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!”
²⁹ The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

Have you learned to praise God even during your trials?  In the passage of scripture above, verse 25 says that around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening. 

Wow! What a powerful testament of their love for God and their faith in Him.  Paul and Silas had been stripped and severely beaten with wooden rods and thrown into prison, yet they found it in their hearts to sing and praise God.  I am sure that this was comforting and encouraging to Paul and Silas as well as the other prisoners that were within the sound of their voices. Can you imagine how astonished their fellow prisoners probably were at the inner joy that they possessed?  

Praise God Daily       

Psalm 18:3 (NLT)
³ I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies.
Psalm 50:23 (NLT)
²³ But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.
If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God.”
Revelation 4:11 (NLT)
¹¹ “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things,  and they exist because you created what you pleased.”
Isaiah 43:7 (NLT)
⁷ Bring all who claim me as their God, for I have made them for my glory.  It was I who created them.’”
Psalm 148:5 (NLT)
⁵ Let every created thing give praise to the Lord, for he issued his command, and they came into being.
Psalm 86:12 (NLT)
¹² With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God. I will give glory to your name forever,
Our Praise reveals that we trust God
Psalm 56:4  (NLT)
4 I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?  What can mere mortals do to me?
Praise is a sacrifice that pleases God and it should be continual.
Hebrews 13:15  (NLT)
15 Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.
Psalm 34:1-3 (NLT)
1 I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises.
2 I will boast only in the Lord; let all who are helpless take heart.
3 Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness; let us exalt his name together.

How often during your day or even your week, do you take a few minutes to acknowledge how great our God is?  Even better yet, how often do you go to Him, just to praise Him, not seeking or asking for anything of Him in return.

Psalm 91 (NLT) 
¹ Those who live in the shelter of the Most High  will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
² This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;  he is my God, and I trust him.
³ For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease.
⁴ He will cover you with his feathers.   He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
⁵ Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,  nor the arrow that flies in the day.
⁶ Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,   nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
⁷ Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you,  these evils will not touch you.
⁸ Just open your eyes,   and see how the wicked are punished.
⁹ If you make the Lord your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,
¹⁰ no evil will conquer you;  no plague will come near your home.
¹¹ For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go.
¹² They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
¹³ You will trample upon lions and cobras;  you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!
¹⁴ The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
¹⁵ When they call on me, I will answer;  I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
¹⁶ I will reward them with a long life  and give them my salvation.”

Psalm 121 (NIV)
¹ I lift up my eyes to the mountains where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the Lord,  the Maker of heaven and earth.
³ He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber;
⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
⁵ The Lord watches over you— the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,   nor the moon by night.
⁷ The Lord will keep you from all harm—  he will watch over your life;
⁸ the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Psalm 34:19-20 (NLT)
¹⁹ The righteous person faces many troubles,  but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.
²⁰ For the Lord protects the bones of the righteous;   not one of them is broken!

The words Jehovah El Elohim mean the Lord God is my Strong Protection. It also means Our Strong Creator. The words Jehovah-Roi mean My Protector. 

A TRIBUTE TO DAD’S

Genesis 18:19  (NIV)
19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”
Romans 12:10  (ESV)
10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
Exodus 20:12  (NIV)
12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
Deuteronomy 6:6-9  (NIV)
6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Proverbs 20:7
The lovers of God will walk in integrity, and their children are fortunate to have godly parents as their examples.
Psalm 103:13
The same way a loving father feels toward his children—  that’s but a sample of your tender feelings toward us,[h]  your beloved children, who live in awe of you.
Psalm 127:3(NKJV)
3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth.
5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.
Proverbs 17:6 (NKJV)
6 Children’s children are the crown of old men, And the glory of children is their father.

Just as God loved us so much that He sacrificed His Son, and His Son willingly sacrificed His life for us, so our dads express their love for us through sacrifice each and every day.
Just as God protects us and provides for us, dads are to do the same for their children.  Our dads should be to us the earthly example of our heavenly Father.  When our earthly fathers are the fathers that God desires for them to be, their examples of fatherhood makes it easier for their children to understand God’s role as their heavenly Father and what their relationship to Him should be like.

Romans 12:1-2 (NLT)
And so, dear brothers and sisters,^[a] I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.^{[b] 2} Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Galatians 2:20 (NLT)
²⁰ My old self has been crucified with Christ.^[a] It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
2 Timothy 2:3-4 (NLT)
³ Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴ Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them.
2 Timothy 1:8-9 (NLT)
^{8. …..}With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News. ⁹ For God saved us and called us to live a holy life…..
Romans 6:12 (NLT)
¹² Do not let sin control the way you live;^[a] do not give in to sinful desires.

Be A Living Sacrifice

Dying to self-seems to be man’s greatest challenge.  Not many of us start our day saying, “Lord I am your living sacrifice today.  My flesh completely dies to all that I desire, in exchange for what you desire of me”.

I know personally that dying to self-has always been a struggle for me. Like Paul, my flesh is constantly at war with my spirit.  In Romans 7:19 Paul says that: “I want to do good but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong but I do it anyway.   I feel sure that if we are being completely honest, we can all agree that like Paul, we have been there many times as well.

  Romans 8:28-29 (NIV)
²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[a] have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
Romans 8:28 (TPT)
²⁸ So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together to fit into God’s perfect plan of bringing good into our lives, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose.
Proverbs 16:4 (NIV)
⁴ The Lord works out everything to its proper end— even the wicked for a day of disaster.
Proverbs 19:21 (NIV)
²¹ Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

How are we called according to His purpose?

Isaiah 14:27  (NLT)
²⁷ The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has spoken— who can change his plans?
When his hand is raised, who can stop him?”
Jeremiah 29:11  (NLT)
¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

you ever become frustrated, because things didn’t go quite the way you wanted them to?  Well, I certainly have.  There have been several times that I have made plans, only to find out that God’s will for my life was something totally different.

Over the years as I have matured spiritually, I have realized that God’s ways without fail, turn out to be what is best for me. Although frustrating and sometimes downright painful, if we just trust and wait His reasons become clearer to us.  There are other times, however, that we may never know His reasons, but we can rest in the fact that it is what is best for us. We must remember that everything points back to Him and His purpose for our lives.