Prayers for children

I found this in the magazine "Pray!" and I loved it so much, I wanted to share it with you all. This comes from "Scriptural Blessings to Pray for Your Children" by Brian Smith. You can get it in bookmark form by going to their website www.praymag.com . I think they are applicable to any age - whether your children are still very small, grown and have families of their own, or somewhere in between. They were an inspiration to me to pray for others around me as well. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Have a great weekend!

Assurance of salvation: Lord, lead my children to trust only in Jesus' sacrifice for their eternal salvation; assure them that their souls are secure in Your hands. (John 3:16; 10:28-29; 1 John 5:13)

Intimacy with God: Draw my children face-to-face with You, that they might taste Your goodness and long for more of You. (Ex. 33:11; Ps. 27:8, 34:8, 42:1-2)

Spiritual blessings: Father, remind my children that You have adopted them in love. Enable them to experience all the spiritual blessings they have in Christ Jesus, especially Your measureless love. May they act, speak, and think in ways fitting for a child of God. (Eph. 1:3-14, 3:17-19, 5:8-10)

Confidence in prayer: Assure my children that You hear their prayers and that You always answer as a caring Father, even when they do not receive what they want. (1 John 5:14-15; Mt. 7:7-11)

Repentance: When my childrensin, quickly lead them to confess and repent so that they might enjoy a clear conscience and unbroken fellowship with You. (Ps. 32:1-2; 1 John 1:5-9)

Sanctification: Transform my children into Christ's likeness. Use whatever circumstances You, in Your perfect wisdom, deem necessary to produce a harvest of righteousness and peace in their lives. (2 Cor. 3:18; James 1:2-4; Heb. 12:5-11)

Hope and rest: Bathe my children in restful, confident hope as they trust You with their self-worth, relationships, life's work, and _____(other concerns). May they overflow with Your peace. (Jer. 29:11; Mt. 11:28-30; Ro. 15:13; Phil. 4:6-7)

Comfort: Through every hardship, may Your Spirit bring tangible consolation to my children so that they will know that they are not alone. Right now, they need Your comfort to get through ________(pray for specific trials or losses). (Mt. 5:4; John 14:16-18)

Freedom: Guide my children into truth so that they will enjoy genuine freedom. (John 8:31-32, 36)

Friendships: Provide my children with friends who are supportive and truthful. Keep them from relationships that would draw them away from You. (Eccl. 4:9-12; Prov. 27:5-6; 1 Cor. 15:33)

Effective parenting: Help me (and my spouse) to be the influence my children need at every stage of their growth. Keep me willing to listen to anything they want to discuss. (Prov. 20:7; Eph. 6:4)

Marriage and children: If it is Your will that my children marry and have children, guide them to godly spouses with whom they will enjoy flourishing relationships. May they pass along a rich heritage to future generations. If they are to remain single, may they experience the joy of living in undivided devotion to You. (Ps. 127:3-5, 128:1-4; 1 Cor. 7:32-35)

A healthy church (or community of believers - my words not his): Provide my children with a unified, prayerful, Bible-teaching church family that will draw them into community, give them a hunger for Your Word, and involve them in Your work. Bless them with spiritual leaders who are trustworthy and humble. (Acts 2:42, 4:32-35; Eph. 4:15-16; 1 Tim. 3:1-13)

Holy Spirit: Fill my children with Your Holy Spirit. Show them how to exercise their spiritual gifts, and enable them to bear all the fruit of Your Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Eph. 5:18; 1 Cor. 12:4-31; Gal. 5:22-23)

Influence: Lord, may my children attract many to You as they influence the world with truth and righteousness. (Mt. 5:13-16; Mk. 1:17; 2 Cor. 2:15-16)

Success: As they study and apply Your Word, may my children bear much eternal fruit. Grant them success in ______ (specific God-honoring endeavors). (Josh. 1:7-8; John 15:8; James 1:25)

Wisdom: Bless my children with wisdom, and give them a constant hunger for more. Fill them with the knowledge of Your Word and Your will. Grant them a life-giving fear of You, for that is where all wisdom begins. (Prov. 3:13; James 1:5; Col. 1:9; Prov. 9:10)

Guidance: By the Holy Spirit's power, lead my children along paths of righteousness. Specifically, guide them in _______ (circumstances your children currently face). (Prov. 3:5-6; John 16:13)

Protection: Keep my children physically safe and healthy, and guard them from the evil one. Help them resist _______ (specific current or future temptations). (James 5:14-16; John 17:15; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Cor. 10:13)

Provision: Supply my children's earthly needs. At the moment they need _______. (Mt. 6:11, 25-33; Phil. 4:19)

Eternity: Remind my children of the eternal rewards You promise. Let this perspective motivate them to lay up treasure in heaven. May they seek first Your kingdom and righteousness by living with integrity and investing generously in the lives of people. (1 Cor. 3:12-14; 2 Cor. 5:1, 10; John 14:2-3; Mt. 6:19-21, 33)

The unimaginable: Gracious Father, shower my children with blessings that exceed my dreams. May Your love flow abundantly into their lives. (Eph. 3:17-20)

Odds & Ends

For those of you reading to keep up with our family, I thought I would catch you up a bit. We have been plodding along trying to make it through this last month of school. This is always the time where the kids are antsy to finish and play outside! But God has a sense of humor and has been helping me out by sending us lots and lots of needed rain. This comes at a price, however, due to Jonah's recent storm-phobia. He's resorted to taking Uncle Doug's advice of forcing himself to go to sleep when he sees storm clouds. This is a great plan, oh yah except for when we're in a restaurant or trying to get through a day of school... can anyone say narcolepsy?

Both kids have done extremely well this year. Kelsey is advancing in math, and Jonah's reading and math have taken off this year. I continue to hold out hope that their life work will not include, "Do you want fries with that?" (Not that there's anything wrong with that...)

Darrel is trudging on at work even though the car business has been the worst that we can remember. God has been pouring vision into his heart about where we are headed with Revolution Ministries. We visited a church in Ozark, MO called Lifepoint where we gained even more of a feel for what people need. I have been trying to figure out how best to end this school year while trying to organize the end of our EVEolution group's study of "Captivating". Darrel and I are still kicking around what we should do next. I have finished yet another Ted Dekker book, "Showdown" - absolutely amazing. I can't wait until his new one comes out later this year - "The Saint". So for now, I am again beginning the first of his trilogy, "Black". I put it aside to read "Showdown". I have been battling a terrible sinus infection. I refuse to go to the doctor, however, as the last time resulted in having to go on steroids and gaining much weight. The heat is on now as I must lose weight in order to have anything to wear at Doug and Misty's quickly approaching wedding.

Catering has been a little slow but is promising to pick up. Last Saturday we cooked a few hamburgers and hot dogs for our local John Deere Implement's anniversary. And by a few I mean 1,300 hamburgers and 400 hot dogs. We started at 9:30am and finished around 1:30pm. We were so glad my dad and my mom came to help us. They did a fantastic job of separating the patties and putting them on the grill. I believe it was the first time my mom had helped us, and Dad, well he's an ol' pro. We have a few family reunions booked for the next few months.

The kids will finish up this semester of piano lessons with a recital tomorrow night. Kelsey is playing softball - Jonah said he would just rather play with his friends. Riiiiigggghhhhhttt....

Darrel bought me a bicycle a couple of weeks ago. It has proved to be a tool of torture. We try to ride at least a mile a day - although with all the rain, we have missed several days. My legs are shouting, yes shouting, Hallelujah! The kids love having the opportunity to pay me back for any amount of homework I might give them by insisting on leading the bike rides up and down many hills - and by up and down, I mean up.

American Idol is getting down to the end. Go Chris.

Nashville Star ended. Yea Chris.

Looking forward to the Golden Oldie Idol where I might have a chance...

It's amazing how many bad songwriters can make millions and how many of today's stars would be lost without that little button in the studio that makes everything sound perfect and without all the "little people" who can sing and write, but are too old to be considered so they just sell their songs for squat.

Dang, I hate it when I trip coming down off my soap box...

Talk to you all later. Keep it real.