Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin;
pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord.
Lift up your hands to Him for the lives of your children . . .
— Lamentations 2:19
In her book The Power of a Praying Parent, Stormie Omartian starts out with this Scripture passage, one I had never noticed before she singled it out. The prophet Jeremiah wrote Lamentations during Judah’s exile in Babylon, a time of great sorrow for God’s people, as they suffered the consequences of their sins. This call to prayer was for the well-being of the children, starved both of food and of their spiritual heritage, in hope that Israel would survive the horrors of exile and return to the Lord once more.
Ethnic annihilation and mass starvation are not imminent threats to our children as they were in Jeremiah’s day. But inherent in our culture are threats to our children’s spiritual health: materialism, self-indulgence, pride, immediate gratification, and the immorality that stems from these godless values. If we imagine that these factors are less of a danger to our children’s spirits than Babylon was to the nation of Israel, we are naive.
What are our prayers for our children like? Are we crying out to God for their spiritual health and protection? We may read the Bible with them, take them to church, teach them Christian morality. But what will make the vital difference for them will be a solid relationship with Christ. As parents, our most powerful tool toward that end is prayer.
So what do we pray? My maternal bias can move me to pray with love and might, but it can also sometimes interfere with me praying God’s will, as I become sidetracked by my own agenda. I find I pray most powerfully and consistently for them (not to mention for myself and others!) when I use Scripture. Then, I am confident that my prayers reflect God’s purposes.
Before my sons were born, I chose passages to pray for each of them.
For Matthew, I pray Matthew 22:37-39, that he would love the Lord with all his heart, mind, soul and strength, and would love his neighbor as himself.
For Benjamin, I pray Micah 6:8 — He has shown you what is good and what the Lord requires of you: to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Another frequent Scripture prayer is from Ephesians 3:16-19 — that Christ would dwell in their hearts through faith, and that my children would know the strength and size of God’s love for them.
As we teach them, discipline them, enjoy them and love them, let’s also "pour out our hearts like water in the presence of the Lord . . . for the lives of our children." And may we know the unequalled joy of a parent’s answered prayer: I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth (3 John 4).
Other Scripture prayers
Colossians 2:6-8
Colossians 3:13-15
James 1:5
Philippians 1:9-11
Psalm 90:14, 16-17
Ephesians 5:1-2 & 6:10:
I like praying the scriptures, too. These are good ones you listed! And I guess I'd never paid attention to the first one from Lamentations, but I love that. You said it perfectly:
ReplyDelete"...what will make the vital difference for them will be a solid relationship with Christ. As parents, our most powerful tool toward that end is prayer."