Family Series 7 – How to pray for your children, Andrew Case

Author:  Andrew Case (source)

A practical prayer-book to help parents intercede for their children consistently and biblically.

He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.
~Psalm 78:5-7

That Their Hearts May Rejoice in the LORD
Seldom is there more exuberance than that which erupts when a new soul enters the world. When God’s son was born Heaven exploded with song (Luke 2:13). Birth is an occasion  for saying, “Glory to God in the highest!” It is an occasion for joining the psalmist, singing, “He gives the barren woman a
home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the LORD!”               (Ps 113:9). It gives rise to songs like Hannah’s: “My heart exults in the LORD; my strength is exalted in the LORD” (I Sam 2:1). There is no question that God takes unbridled delight in creating families. And just as much as through
birth, He revels uproariously in building families through adoption. As the apostle Paul writes, In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His
glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved. (Eph 1:4-6)
The LORD even chose to use an adopted son as the great leader who would bring His people out of Egypt and mediate His covenant with them (Ex 2:10). And it was the valiance of an adopted daughter that rescued her people from genocide (Esther 2:7). Yahweh glories in this. He glories in the creation
of families, no matter how conventional or unconventional, for the sake of His name. Indeed, children are a remarkable gift from the LORD. They are endlessly special and precious to Him. He even tells us that unless we become
like them, we will never enter His Kingdom (Matt 18:3).

Do you feel the severe enthusiasm of Heaven? “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward” (Ps 127:3).
With such joy comes grave responsibility. All parents have the dark potential to follow the prodigal son in squandering their lavish inheritance and reward (Luke 15:11-32). Their own sin can easily lead to the loss of their children’s
souls. Terrifying unknowns spread out before our children like minefields scattered with the “passions of the flesh, which wage war against [their souls]” (I Pet 2:11). Still more terrifying is the realization that we, as parents, are ultimately unable to save them from the easy way “that leads to destruction” (Matt 7:13). And this forces us to our knees. We must entrust their hearts and paths to the One who not only creates families, but also loves to redeem them. Thus our duty remains to prayerfully labor and laboriously
pray for their salvation and welfare. The parents who neglect this, even while offering their children every other worldly comfort and opportunity, waste their reward and do their children great harm. As William Gurnall wrote,
Can there be a greater heartache in this life than to see your own child running full speed toward hell, and know that you were the one who outfitted him for the race? Oh, do your best while they are young and in your constant care, to win them to God and set them on the road to heaven.

1 Care for your sons and daughters wisely, for it is no small undertaking. Indeed, “There’s no work more complex, more important, or more exalted that that of caring for children. After all, it’s what God Himself has chosen, above all else, to do with His time.”

2 Prayerful labor must include diligent teaching as the LORD requires: “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children” (Deut 6:6-7). Surely this command was in the psalmist’s mind when he prayed, “So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim Your might to another generation, Your power to all those to come” (Ps 71:18).

Likewise, Asaph builds his entire psalm upon the LORD’s command to make known His wonders to our children. Listen to his reasoning for singing the history of Yahweh’s deeds: We will not hide them [the “sayings from of old”] from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God. (Ps 78:4-8) Let us likewise make known to our children His faithfulness (Isa 38:19). And let us then fall to our knees and ask that He would use His Word to set their hope in Him. Let us plead importunately that He would never let them forget His works. Let us implore that they would keep His commandments; that they would trust in the power and sufficiency of Christ. In other words, let us pray the Scriptures for our
children. O what a treasure trove of prayer is afforded to us in the Bible! Seize its wisdom of petition and exultation, and learn to be a conduit of its perfect intercession, committing your sons and daughters to the Father who is gracious, compassionate, and mighty to save (Ps 145:8, 103:13, Isa 63:1). Only by His strength will your children see Him and be glad. Only by His Spirit will their hearts “rejoice in the LORD” (Zech 10:7).

Click on icon at right to read the rest of this book.

Other posts from this series:

• Family Series 6 – How to pray,intercede for your wife,husband
• Family series 5 – A Biblical Husband and Family by Paul Washer
• Mission Impossible-Do your kids and your family do this? Invata de la toate…
• Family Series 4 – What is a wife’s responsibility in solving marital conflict? by John Piper
• Family Series – 3 Husbands who love like Christ and the wives who submit to them by John Piper
• Family series: Part 2 Defining Masculinity by Matt Chandler
• Family series: Part 1 – Be a man by Paul Washer
• Cum sa ne ajutam copii sa nu-si piarda credinta – Iosif Ton
• Ce la tinut pe Iosif curat, aflat atit de departe de casa? Pt. 1 de Iosif Ton
• Ce la tinut pe Iosif curat, aflat atit de departe de casa? Pt. 2 de Iosif Ton
• Consequences of sin – Joseph’s story
• Two valuable books- Doua carti extraordinare -The Gospel of Mark and John Bunyan…