A Call To Pray For Our Children

I haven't blogged in a long while but last night as I listened to a message on parenting I was challenged and moved to take my thoughts to my blog where I can hopefully encourage moms to get on board with me to really start investing time into the relationship our children have with the LORD.
It first starts with us moms [and dads]. We have to be investing time and keeping our #1 priority our relationship with our heavenly Father.
I believe our second step is prayer. This morning I was discouraged as I sat in the floor with my 3 children having our prayer and devotion time. At the start of every week I have Wil and Maggie pick one person to pray for and they pray for that person the entire week. This is based on I Timothy 2:1 ("I urge you , first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them."). Well Maggie was quick to pick hers. Trey is too little so his participation is minimal. I get to Wil (this is where my discouragement begins) and he says "i don't know". Come on, Wil. He is just being difficult and then he just lays in the floor. So I just move on even though I want to force him to pick someone. I don't believe forcing him is going to benefit him but rather turn him off so I continue. We begin our devotion. It is short, but 30 seconds into it Wil begins to express his boredom. We finish 2 minutes later and Wil says, "Yes!!!" and hurries off to play ball. I sit there going, "God, how do I reach Wilson's heart for You." and God, in the quiet of my heart says, "Be patient, let him see you love Me, and pray, pray, pray". So here I sit encouraging you moms to hang in there. Don't weary in doing good for if we don't give up, we will reap a harvest of righteousness. We are not perfect parents so we should not expect to have perfect children but we do serve a Perfect Savior and we must trust Him and seek His wisdom as we raise children to be soldiers for Christ.
Back in September I began to go through a 31 day challenge of praying for my children. I got a print off from a ministry I love (www.Reviveourhearts.com). This print off gave a list of 31 things to pray for our children and I am going to be revisiting them this month and next. If you want join me in this journey. I will hopefully be posting something every few days on what I am praying for that day. You can also go to the revive our hears website and click on "downloads" and print off a list of theses things.
The first one I want to start with is praying for my children to have a "passion for God".
Psalm 63:1-8 "O God you are my God; I earnestly search for You. My soul thirsts for You; my whole body longs for You in this parched and weary land where there is no water. I have seen You in Your sanctuary and gazed upon Your power and glory. Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise You! I will praise You as long as I live, lifting up my hands to You in prayer. You satisfy me more than the richest feast. I will praise You with songs of joy. I lie awake thinking of You, meditating on You through the night. Because You are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings. I cling to You; Your strong right hand holds me securely."
How I long for my children to love the LORD this passionately!! I wrote this in my journal in October as I was going through this challenge:

"The greatest passion to chase after is You LORD. It is the most rewarding bar-none. For You alone satisfy the hunger in our souls!
Let Wil, Maggie, and Trey have a love for You that David spoke about in Psalm 63:1-8. May they earnestly search for You. May their soul thirst for You. May they love Your unfailing love more than life. May they praise You. May they always lift up their hands to You in prayer. May they find satisfaction in You alone. May their thoughts always be on You God. Be their helper. May they sing for joy in the shadow of Your wings. May they cling to You Father. And, Father, may your strong hand hold them.
In Jesus Name,
Amen"
And as we ask the LORD for these things in the lives of our children, let us not be ignorant in the fact that we need to ask them in our own lives as well!
Have a good Monday everyone and hopefully enjoy the snowfall one last time! Spring come quickly!
In the abundance of His grace may we live today!!!