For the past several nights, I have awakened in the middle of the night and caught myself praying for my family using the acronym we've been focusing on these past weeks. In fact, I usually drift off to sleep but then wake up again still expressing the same thoughts to the Lord. I only wish I were that prayerful during my busy days!

The fifth area of prayer for my children centers on the letter L. I ask the Lord for four specific things regarding my children. Here they are:

1. Listener
2. Learner
3. Leader
4. Lover

Good listening is the first step to becoming a great person and a true friend. I can hear words just fine, but do I really listen? Do I listen to the heart and spirit of what someone is trying to convey? Not only eye contact but heart contact? I've become an expert at repeating words spoken to me, but to actually focus 100% on what an individual is communicating is tough for me. I personally struggle with having a “listening” heart. Multi-tasking when it comes to listening conveys a lack of authenticity in my relationships. The bottom line is, I want my kids to become better listeners than talkers. “He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him” (Proverbs 18:13). I meet with a dear friend of mine on a regular basis for breakfast. His business and our ministry have had similar growth patterns over the years. Both have about the same revenue trends and similar staffing issues. And, on the personal side, we both have deep desires to have strong marriages and successful walks with God. I know others like him in many regards, but I don’t know of anyone who asks more questions than my friend Dave. He is constantly learning by asking questions. About everything! Consequently, he has become one of the most knowledgeable people I know. But his secret to success can be summarized in his longing to learn. In fact, we both have come to the conclusion that the number one quality we look for in staff is a learner’s heart. Do they desire to learn and grow? If so, we have concluded they will be great staff. If not, they will probably struggle. Sue gets much credit for implanting this quality into our children. As a result, none of our three children watches much television (two of them don’t even have a television, and the other has one because he won it in a drawing). And they are avid learners. I can't keep up with them. And they have no problem keeping a job! Praying for my children to be leaders is not the same as praying for them to be popular or well known. The best definition I know of for a leader is summed up in one word: influence. Since they were small children, we have asked the Lord for the ability to raise children who would not just survive in this world, but change it. We asked God to make our children world-influencers. All three of them are in vocational ministry, and all three have visions far bigger than mine! Finally, we want our children to be known as God’s disciples. And being people lovers, according to Scripture, is the only way others will know we are His. If loving God and loving our neighbors are the two greatest commandments, then it has always seemed to me the way to have the greatest kids is to have them obeying the greatest commandments. I want great kids, so I pray they will abide by the one formula God shares with us to become great in His eyes: loving Him and others!

Now, by way of reviewing how we pray for our children:

F = Faithful and fruitful

A = Active in sharing Christ and anointed as they do

M = Morally pure and mates that are godly

I = Insulated from the world, flesh, and devil; integrity of heart

L = Listeners, learners, leaders, lovers