Parenting and Prayer

This is from the Oct. 4, 2010 email newsletter from teachmagazine.com

Greetings!


Parenting - there is no greater joy, no bigger responsibility, nothing that will keep you on your knees at the Father's Throne begging for His help and wisdom more than having children. Not a day passes that I do not thank God for my family and nearly in the same breath, tell Him how inadequate I am for the job and how much I see my need for Him.


God says David, the author of most of the Psalms, was, "truly a man after God's own heart," but he was alive to witness one of his sons, Absalom, wanting more and being willing to pursue it even at the cost of decimating his own family. And David wasn't alone. Parenting issues plagued the patriarchs, too. Abraham's son Ishmael was never happy and caused problems for him from his conception. Isaac not only lost sleep over his twins, but was swindled by one of them. And Jacob had his fair share of headaches and heartaches with his 12 boys, not to mention one of his daughters. So, we are not alone or experiencing something new when we sweat over our children and their decisions.


Sometimes I wonder if one of the best things raising children has done for me is the overwhelming awareness of my own inability to do what I wanted to do. Parenting has made my reliance on the Lord stronger and steadier so that I am now in constant communication with my Father. My 10 year old, Luke, said it like this last year, "Mom, you have shown me that God is just a word away." He was saying that he is learning to pray all the time about everything, not just at meals or bedtime.


Ladies, we are faced with a job filled with obstacles, landmines, deserts and jungles and all we have is the clothes on our backs and the power of the Almighty God of the universe at our disposal - at this very instant in my writing my phone rang. It was my husband wanting to discuss something that could have severe consequences to us about one of our children!


Wow, how comforted I was to glance at the words I had just penned. So I began praying, seeking, banging on His doors, and just like He promised, He answered. I talked to this child and the Lord filled me and used me. I heard myself saying things I had never thought of before. And our child listened and apologized and sincerely promised to work on this issue. They even suggested we put it on the calendar to talk about it again in a week to check up on their progress.


Our God will do the same for you. The reason we need to be in constant prayer isn't so that God will hear you, it is so that we will hear God. Don't let fear of parenting paralyze you, don't let lack of prayer keep you from the Father, and don't let anything rob you of the daily loving of your children!