Prayers for my Children

My daughter lays cradled in my arms, she peacefully sleeps as I pray and weep over her.  The wisdom brought through my own life experiences has allowed me to know how to pray for her.  I know because of the little girl inside me who continues to remember the pain of the lies.  I understand the emotional distress, the torment of negative self-talk, the damage that was done of which I had no say, no input to what the future of my family would be.

As a parent, you want more for your children than you had.  For some, it is financial, for others its education... For me it is more based on family and walk with Christ.  I pray that both my son and daughter would know a family of origin that was healthier than what mine was.  I pray they would understand the love Jesus has for them and begin to grasp what that means for their lives earlier than I did.  I pray against the lies that lead them to believe the family they need is not worth fighting for, that they are not worthy of a family that is healthy.  I pray for them to be dependent on Jesus to fill them before allowing others to be part of the filling.  I pray that they would live fearlessly.  That trusting Jesus means living without fear because love casts out fear.

For my son.  My firstborn.  I pray he is not sour toward marriage, that he would come to know and love the beauty of God's design.  I pray he would grow to be a man of integrity, a man who remembers the pain, who is not bitter or filled with resentment due to the brokenness in his own childhood.  I pray he would heal from the wounds I have caused in his younger years.  I pray he can forgive me for my lack of knowledge, my lack of patience, my high expectations, my tendency to dismiss his pain, and for the walls that block him from knowing me.  I pray he would heal from the wounds others have caused, the relationships with adults that abruptly ended without explanation, the lack of love shown to a child in a messy situation.  I pray for him to grow to be a man who learns to lay down his life for the ones he loves, knowing it is more than sacrificing through death, that it means sacrificing in life.  That he would lead well and love well.  I pray that his compassion and empathy for others would grow despite attempts by others (including me) to squash it.  I pray that he would know that it is good for men to be vulnerable, that it comes from strength not weakness.  I pray for masculinity that is God honoring and not of this world.  I pray God would bring people into his life who can bring him love, knowledge, and wisdom that I cannot give.  I praise God that Jackson has accepted Jesus as his savior.

For my daughter, my baby girl.  I first pray for her to choose to follow Jesus.  I pray she grows to be a powerful soul.  Beauty that radiates from the inside out.  I pray for her wounds to heal sooner than mine have.  I pray she never buys into the lies whispered in her ear by the enemy.  I pray she finds herself captivating according to the eyes of her heavenly Father, that she will know He delights in her.  I pray she would not blame herself for things that were out of her control, that the choices made by others would not define her.  I pray for her to be protected, that her heart especially would be held gently by God's hands.  I pray she would not believe that love is ever defined by fighting against someone in order to gain control, but that it is fighting for someone, that it means standing next to someone and against hatred.  I pray she would not be hardened in her youth.  But I also pray she would be a boundary setter, a boundary keeper, that she would stand in God's truths for her life.  I pray she values herself and lives in the knowledge of Christ, that low self-esteem would not enslave her.  I pray for her to stand up for others who are hurting.  I praise God for the fighter she already is, that she is stubborn and that this can be used for the kingdom of God.

I pray that God continues to teach me, that I will only grow to a higher place of healing.  That I would grow to learn and accept more of God's love and be able to show that love to my children.  I pray this more than ever because of the young lives that God has entrusted to me.  I pray I would know they are His before mine, that He is bigger than me, that He can do more for them than I ever could.  Fill our lives with your presence Lord!