{"id":471,"date":"2013-05-13T20:32:49","date_gmt":"2013-05-14T01:32:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/?p=471"},"modified":"2016-11-02T20:34:05","modified_gmt":"2016-11-03T01:34:05","slug":"a-mothers-day-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/2013\/05\/13\/a-mothers-day-gift\/","title":{"rendered":"A Mother’s Day Gift"},"content":{"rendered":"

As this Mother\u2019s Day draws to a close I\u2019m reminded of a gift I was given several years ago when my kids were young. It was a list.<\/span><\/p>\n

Strange gift?<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes and No.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was a list of things to pray for your children. I was given this list in my Bible Study group as we looked forward to Mother\u2019s Day that weekend. The list contained some deep character building, responsible adult producing and God-sensitive traits that I saw at once were what I needed to pray for my children. I was already praying for their salvation; but I must admit my prayers were simplistic and global in the way I prayed. True Confessions time: I was unorganized and to tell the truth a bit in ADHD mode in my prayers. I was easily distracted and other thoughts flitted around my head like starving butterflies.<\/span><\/p>\n

We were asked to pray for each item on the list for a solid month. And then, we were asked to pray these, once a month, every year! What a challenge!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To pray over one aspect of your child\u2019s life for an extended period of time\u00a0takes<\/em>\u00a0time.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What mom wouldn\u2019t wonder where that time could be had?\u00a0<\/span>Ahh, but what better investment?<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of praying all over the place, here were specific, God defining things that I should have thought of myself.\u00a0 {It takes some of us longer to mature in Christ than others- no matter how long we\u2019ve been believers!}<\/span><\/p>\n

These twelve areas made an eternal difference in my children\u2019s lives. My adult daughter still talks about one of the things on the list. I\u2019ll let you in on it later!<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is the list:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Pray that your child would know Christ as savior early in life.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Pray that your child would have a hatred for sin.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Pray that your child would be caught when guilty.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Pray for your child\u2019s protection from the evil one.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Pray that your child would have a responsible attitude in their relationships.<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Pray that your child would respect those in authority over them.<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Pray that your child would desire the right kind of friends and for God\u2019s protection from the wrong kind of friends.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  8. Pray that your child would be kept from the wrong mate and be kept for the right mate.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  9. Pray that your child, as well as the one he\/she is to marry, will be kept pure.<\/span><\/li>\n
  10. Pray that your child would totally submit to God and resist satan in\u00a0ALL<\/span>\u00a0circumstances.<\/span><\/li>\n
  11. Pray that your child would be single-hearted and sold out to Jesus.<\/span><\/li>\n
  12. Pray that there would be a hedge about your child so he\/she would not find wrong people or places and they will not find your child.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Although this is obviously not an all-inclusive list, the issues in this list are issues of the heart and mind. And eternity is at stake. In a world where it seems that everyone and everything is competing for our children’s attentions and affections we must see this is a battle for our children’s eternity. Not only for their present condition.<\/span><\/p>\n

    I also discovered that God brought so many other specific things to my heart to pray for them every day. Over the years I have seen God accomplish the shaping of their lives and He continues to shape their lives as they pray for their own children. I also discovered that I was a beneficiary of this time spent in specific prayer.<\/span><\/p>\n

    There are no magic potions, no magic cures; no quick and easy have perfect children solutions. Even the most obedient child has a misstep {or two} along the way. Whether that event is small in the bigger scheme of things or it\u2019s a game changer and causes deep pain, praying for our children is the most important thing we can do for them. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Ok, drum roll please \u2013<\/span><\/p>\n

    The one she still talks about is #3. And, the truth of it, she and her brothers were each caught at one time or other. Not every time, but they did learn that very real, sometimes serious, consequences were the result and they understood how the poorly thought out and even flat wrong choices and acts were harmful to them and harmful to others around them as they matured.<\/span><\/p>\n

    I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 2 Timothy 1:3<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 3:14-15<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    As this Mother\u2019s Day draws to a close I\u2019m reminded of a gift I was given several years ago when my kids were young. It was a list. Strange gift? Yes and No. It was a list of things to pray for your children. I was given this list in my Bible Study group as … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[207,129,78,34,113],"class_list":["post-471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-bsf","tag-children","tag-eternity","tag-god","tag-prayer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":472,"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471\/revisions\/472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}