Praying For Our Children

Tonight, as I was busy trying to finish many things on my rather LONG "to do" list, I suddenly felt a prompting from the Lord.  He brought to mind my son Michael, who is in the Philippines as a missionary with his wife, Ruth, and their little daughter, Beth.  They are 13 hours ahead of us over there, and I immediately thought of the fact that they would soon be starting their Sunday.  Sundays are very busy for Michael, as he is very  involved in some of the church ministries.  I felt the Lord was not only telling me to pray for my son, but also to send him a quick e-mail letting him know he was in my prayers.  I was in the middle of something, but really felt I should do it right then.  So I sent this off:

"Hey, I was just thinking of you, and wanted to let you know that I'm praying for you!      Hope you have a good Sunday. 

 Love ya!"

  Within a short time, I received the following reply: 

"Thanks, Mom!  I need it today.  

Your timing is impeccable."

 I know it wasn't MY timing that had anything to do with it, but rather it was my being in tune to God's voice encouraging me to pray for   him right THEN.  I'm kind of anxious to hear back from him about his day.  I kind of had the thought that he might have been feeling discouraged, and maybe even asked God to show Him that he cared, and that others cared too.  I'm not sure what the situation was, but I'm very glad I acted when God spoke to me. 

This reminded me of how important it is to being committed to praying for our children daily!  Often, especially as they get older, we can't always be there to help them, or we can't do much to change their circumstances, but we know the One who can , and He tells us:  "… concerning the work of my hands command ye me."  (Isaiah 45:11b)  What better gift can we give to our children, than the gift of faithfully bringing them before God & asking God's protection & blessing on them?  We may not be able to give our kids all the "things" we might like to, but we can pray. 

Many times over the past 30 years of raising our children, I have had times when I was discouraged about what I was seeing in my kids.  I would find myself kind of mumbling about how they were acting, despite the fact that we were trying to consistently teach them God's Word, and build their character.  Every time I got to that point, the Lord would quietly remind me "Kathie, you haven't been praying for them like you should."  God reminded me that DOING all the right things as a parent wasn't enough.  I could never be a perfect parent, but I could be a praying parent, and that's what makes the difference in our children's lives. 

What an awesome opportunity we have to partner with God as we bring our children & their needs before Him on a daily basis!

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