What’s a parent to do?
Besides Television Thoroughfare and Computer Court being dangerous places for
children to play, drugs, alcohol, and promiscuous behavior threaten their health and
safety if they associate with the wrong peers.
Schools with liberal philosophies on sex education, evolution, and moral
relativism threaten to erode godly values.
Some parents make financial sacrifices and enroll their children in expensive
private or Christian schools in an attempt to protect them
from wrong influences. But, human nature
being what it is without Jesus, there is no guarantee that, even in Christian
schools, safety from every threat will be found.
You install television and computer filters to help protect
your children from destruction. You are
careful to watch over your child’s friendships.
If you’re a Christian parent, I know you care deeply that your child
receives salvation by faith in Jesus Christ.
You’ve cultivated a godly atmosphere of love in your home, and taught
the Word of God to them. But still you struggle
with worry and fears because of unprecedented challenges your children face
in today’s society, as sin and lawlessness increase.
As children spread their wings and fly from the nest, so to
speak, many parents worry whether they have done enough to disciple their
children in the ways of the Lord to prepare them for life. What if they walk away from Jesus? What if they marry the wrong person? What if they choose the wrong career? What if they adopt New Age teaching, get
sucked into the occult or witchcraft?
A mother’s pillow is wet with tears before she falls asleep
at night, only to awaken in the early morning hours with the pain of a wayward
son or daughter still in her heart. She blames
herself for failing as a parent and prays in distress, fearful that her child
will turn against God and be eternally lost.
Fear haunts her. Fathers also
experience this pain. "What if… what if… what if… " STOP! Such
thoughts and speech are destructive – and negatively productive!
I have hope and good news
for you: declare the Word of God over your children! “The Word of God is living and powerful, and
sharper than any two-edged sword…”
(Hebrews 4:12, NKJ) Stop praying in fear. Declare the Word of the Lord with the power
and authority Jesus gave you! You will
find hope and faith arise in your heart when you do. It gives God a framework of faith in which to
work on their behalf. Claim God’s
promises about your children and stand on them in persistent faith, no matter
how circumstances look. The Word says in
Psalm 127:3 that “Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from
Him.” Speak life!
Choose words based on what God says about your children and declare them
prayerfully, with faith in God: Don’t say things like:
Do you want those
words to bear fruit? I don’t think so. You should be aware that parents who repeatedly
say or think such things give the devil legal license and inroads into their
children’s lives. Don’t do that! Proverbs 18:20 (NKJ) says that the power of
life and death are in the power of the tongue.
·
My kids are a pain in the neck.
·
Suzie will never change.
·
Satan has my kids.
·
Johnny is no good.
·
I wish I didn’t have any kids.
·
My children are a blessing.
·
God is doing a good
work in Suzie’s life.
·
My children are taught
of the Lord.
·
God will fulfill His
plan in Johnny’s life.
·
I’m blessed to be
entrusted with raising children for the Lord.
I put my children’s names in the Scripture verses and say
them back to God. “For as the rain comes
down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth,
and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread
to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not
return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper
in the thing for which I sent it.”
Isaiah 55:10-11 (NKJ) God gave us His Word, His promises, to speak in the earth, that He may establish them. It's the Genesis law of sowing and reaping. Your words
are spiritual seeds; choose them carefully.
The crop you raise will be your own.
Remember that Proverbs 18:21 says, “The tongue has the power
of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” The Lord has given us very great and precious
promises that are realized when we speak our faith in His word, and with persistent
patience, wait on the Lord to bring about the fulfillment. Like a farmer who plants his crops in the earth,
and waits for the harvest, so we sow into the spiritual realm with the words of
our mouth. What kind of harvest do you
want? It’s important to say what God
says about you, your family, and your circumstances.
For more on speaking God’s Word over your children, I
recommend Mike Shreve’s book, “65 Promises From God for Your Child – Powerful
Prayers for Supernatural Results.”
Be encouraged, dear reader, and God bless you!
All Scriptures are from the NIV translation unless otherwise
noted.
Copyright ©2014
Elaine Beachy
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