By Lauren Tucker
“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.” (Psalm 127:3, ESV)
As a mom, I have not been given the golden book on how to parent. I did not receive a gift at my first child’s birth of all the wisdom I would need to turn to so I can raise perfect children. What I have been given is the mercy of Christ that I can come to him at any time in any circumstance and pray for wisdom, patience, and mercy.
Here are a few things that I regularly pray for.
I ask for wisdom to parent each of my children as they need, for grace when I lose my cool, and how to turn them back to biblical standards rather than the world's.
I pray for protection and guidance over each moment of their lives since I know I am not in control (even when I want to be).
I pray for them to grow in the Lord and to strive to have a vibrant relationship with him.
I ask God to give them their spouse and that he would keep them and the partner he has for them till he brings them.
I pray for the power to resist temptation as sin is so attractive and distracting in an instant gratification society.
Instead of only asking my prayer include thankfulness for what God has already done.
To parents, I encourage you to ponder these things.
Maybe the parenting manual we all wish we had is no further away than opening our bible and prayerfully keeping the line open to God.
Maybe parenting is realizing that we are not in control of everything and that our children are simply entrusted to us as gifts from God. (Psalm 127:4)
What if we parent in prayer and grace instead of following the standards of the world?
To be a praying parent is to commit your children to their creator who values, and treasures them even more than we do. The confidence we have is that the father hears our cry and accepts our prayers (Ps 6:9)
