I have said in one of my earlier blog posts on parenting that being the child of a man of God does not guarantee that the child will follow God. The sons of Prophet Eli in 1 Samuel 2-4 were considered wicked in the sight of God, yet their father was a priest before the Lord. In fact, they were also priests before God.
Why Is Prayer Important in Raising Godly Children?
And so, it is not enough that you are a man of God, and also
not enough that you have trained your children in the way of the Lord, but it
is important that you pray fervently for your children. You cannot effectively
raise godly children without God in the process.
Based on my understanding, prayer is inviting God to come
and do for you what you otherwise cannot do for yourself. And when you pray and
have faith and believe in God and His word, you can be sure that He will honor
our invitation and step in where our ability and capabilities begin to fail.
Deuteronomy 11:18-19 says, “Fix these words of mine in
your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your
foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home
and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
The scripture above is God’s instruction to us as parents through
Moses. This instruction is within what our capabilities can carry out, and so
the Lord instructs us to do them. But teaching your children about God without
God’s help is a huge task. I say this because you can teach, but you can’t
determine if what you are teaching is having the desired impact.
Praying for Your Children's Protection from Negative Influences
We live in a world where a lot of vices are on standby to
corrupt the good values you have diligently deposited in the lives of your
children. You can teach your children good values, but you can’t control what
the society outside your control would teach them.
A well-trained child may go to school and be friends with an
ill-trained child. You are not there in the school with your child to censor or
monitor the flow of information and interaction between your child and his
friend. Chances are that the little, not-so-deep suggestions become weeds that
strangle the good values you have instilled in your child.
Another very real example is the use of social media. No
matter how much control you probably think you can have over your child’s
interaction with the outside world, you cannot rule out the possibility of your
child encountering negative information coming from the medium.
Some parents have decided not to expose their children to
social media platforms. Although this may be highly commendable and a very
disciplined approach to parenting, it can only work to a certain age. At some
point, the children would not have a choice but to be exposed to these tools.
And so, there is the need for a greater source of protection
for our children above what we can provide with our limited selves. The
teaching, instructions, and examples from the parents can help instill the
values, but there is a need for something greater that helps to retain these
values.
Because the Lord Seeks Godly Offspring — discover God's purpose for parenting, the power of prayer in raising godly children, and how to seek His wisdom, guidance, and protection as you nurture their faith and prepare them to fulfill His divine purpose.
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What Does Isaiah 54:13 Teach Us About Praying for Our Children?
Isaiah 54:13 says, “All your children shall be taught by
the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.” This scripture happens to be one of my favorites
when praying for my children. In Deuteronomy, we learned about Moses telling
parents to teach the word of God to their children.
In Deuteronomy 6:6-7, it talks about impressing God’s word
on our children. That means we need to ensure that they accept it, understand
it, and are convinced in it. But in Isaiah 54:13, the Lord Himself declares
that He will teach our children.
The confirmation for me in that scripture is that, beyond
what I am capable of teaching my children, beyond the limits of my
understanding, above the sphere of my control, the Lord Himself will teach my
children.
And so, when they are in school, and I cannot censor their
friend selection or the information they take in, the Lord will teach them.
When they are with so-called friends who are capable of corrupting their good
values, the Lord will teach them. When they are on their devices, and they are
of age, and I cannot control what they are exposed to on the internet, the Lord
will teach them.
Isaiah 54:13 does not negate the instructions of Deuteronomy
11:18-19, or the instructions of Proverbs 22:6, which says, “Train a child
in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it,” but
it shows us that, as parents, there is more to be done.
Psalm 127:1-2 says, “Unless the Lord builds the house,
it’s builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen
stand guard in vain.” This scripture sums it all up for us. It is important
that we do all that the scripture requires us to do as parents. But when we do
it all and omit the key aspect of it all, which is prayer, then our efforts are
not guaranteed.
How to Pray for Wisdom in Parenting: Lessons from Manoah
There is a parenting story in the Bible that I really love
so much and would want to share. It’s found in Judges 13: the story of the
birth of Samson, and this story underscores the importance of a praying parent.
There was a certain man of Zorah named Manoah whose wife was
barren. The angel of the Lord appeared to the wife and told her she was going
to conceive and went ahead to give her instructions on how to conduct herself
during the pregnancy because of the status of the child to be born.
The angel also gave her specific instructions for the baby
to be born. The wife went home and told her husband all that she saw and was
told by the angel. And the response of her husband was what caught my
attention.
Judges 13:8 says, “Then Manoah prayed to the Lord: ‘O Lord,
I beg you, let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to
bring up the boy who is to be born.’” Manoah must have been a man who
feared the Lord for God to choose him as a vessel to birth the great Samson who
would begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.
Manoah, by virtue of his relationship with God, never
assumed he knew what to do. Yes, he would teach his son to follow after God,
but he knew there was more needed, so he prayed to God and begged God to teach
him how to raise the boy to be born.
I agree that there are lessons that can be generalized when training
your children in the way of the Lord, but every child is unique and has their
own unique traits and qualities. The strategy for effectively raising children
while maintaining their individual God-given gifts and traits can only come
from God, who made and gave them those unique qualities.
I have four children, and I can assure you that all four of
them have their unique traits. I have a child who is very neat and orderly, and
I have another who is less concerned about his environment. I have a child who
is self-motivated and another who needs lots of encouragement.
And interestingly, I still remain the mother of all four
children. And so, attending to the uniqueness of all four of them while still
raising them effectively for God requires me to be in the presence of God,
praying without ceasing over their lives.
There are so many things to pray for over the lives of our
children. We need to pray for God to protect them physically; we need to pray
for God to sustain the good values we have deposited in their lives; we need to
pray for the effective strategy to impress the word of God in their lives; we
need to pray over their decisions and the things that may influence them that
we don’t have control over.
I can go on and on listing the reasons to pray for our
children and the things to pray for, but the fact cannot be overstated that as
parents we need to pray for our children.
Judges 13:9-10 says, “God heard Manoah, and the angel of
God came again to the woman while she was out in the field; but her husband
Manoah was not with her. The woman hurried to tell her husband, ‘He’s here! The
man who appeared to me the other day!’”
The scripture above tells us that God heard Manoah’s prayer
and the angel of God appeared again. Just as God heard and answered Manoah, He
will surely hear and answer you because He is a faithful God. When you pray and
have faith, you can be sure he will answer you.
Teaching our children in the way of the Lord is a
responsibility God has entrusted to us, but fulfilling that responsibility
requires more than our own wisdom and effort. Just as Manoah sought God's
guidance concerning the child he was about to raise, we too must continually
seek God's wisdom for our children.
Every child is unique, and every stage of parenting presents
different challenges. We may not be able to control every influence our
children encounter, but we can faithfully teach them God's Word, model godly
values, and continually commit them into God's hands through prayer.
A praying parent acknowledges that while the responsibility
to train a child belongs to the parent, the wisdom and grace needed to fulfill
that responsibility come from God.
Please find other helpful parenting blog titles below. You can click the
title to read the blog.
How to Raise Godly Children: Biblical Lessons for Intentional Parenting
How Can I Raise Godly Children When I Feel Overwhelmed?
How to Parent Adult Children: Biblical Guidance Without Control
How to Train Up a Child in the Way of the Lord: Biblical Parenting Tips
Why Does God Seek Godly Offspring? Understanding Malachi 2:15
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