Praying for Your Children (Part 1)

I was at lunch recently with a Florida pastor who ministers to a large number of families. When I shared with him the method by which I have been praying for my family for the past decade or more, he immediately wanted a copy of my prayer plan. It's nothing new. It's nothing that dramatic. But God has blessed Sue and me with three children, all of whom are in vocational ministry and driven to impact the world for Christ as an overflow of their faithfulness to the Lord.
In addition to praying these themes for my children, I have tried to use a biblical passage or verse as a basis to empower that prayer. AND, since I am getting older, and without appearing trite, I use the acronym of F.A.M.I.L.Y. to make it easier for me to spontaneously pray for them throughout each day.Over the next few blogs, I will let you in on my prayers for my three children, their mates, and now my grandchildren.

F = Faithful and Fruitful

“Lord, would You cause my children to elevate faithfulness over successfulness? Help them to value God’s commendation of ‘Well done, good and faithful servant’ above any of man’s accolades or affirmations. Like the apostle Paul, help them to embrace God’s primary qualification for ministry as that of being faithful (1 Tim. 1:5). At the beginning of each day, may You remind them that their faithfulness postures them to receive the 'true riches of Your glory' (Luke 16:10). Encourage them with reminders that those spiritual riches of grace, mercy, forgiveness, love, and transforming power will produce ‘fruit that remains.’ Protect them from being driven by short-term results, big numbers, personal prestige, or power-filled positions in ministry service. And Lord, pour out an abundance of stories of genuinely changed lives in return for their faithfulness, whether anyone ever knows about it or not.”

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