Praying for Honesty and Integrity
Monday, November 15, 2010 at 7:00AM MAD21 By Jason (Connecting to Impact)
"Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people." –Spencer Johnson
I doubt there are very many parents out there who would fight for their kids to become dishonest, immoral adults, but sometimes in our push to get them into high achievement we send the wrong messages.
"How about this scripture, “What a person desires is unfailing love; better to be poor than a liar." (Proverbs 19:22)
"Or what about this verse earlier in the chapter, “Better the poor whose walk is blameless than a fool whose lips are perverse." (Proverbs 19:1)
We might repeat the oft mentioned motto, “honesty is the best policy” while displaying a different, but nevertheless potent fact: sometimes compromise gets you gain quicker than honesty.
Will they have the foundation to resist the temptation to take a shortcut and realize that these never end up like we think they will?
I remember hearing a story from “Telling the Truth,” a radio program from Stuart and Jill Briscoe. You’ll have to forgive me if the details are a little off as I heard this a couple years ago. The point still remains the same.
Stuart was telling about at incident he had working for a bank as a young man. The boss was a gruff person and demanding. He told Stuart that if anyone called for him to say that he wasn’t in the office.
Stuart essentially said, “I can’t do that.” The boss was decidedly unhappy and tried to force the young man to back down through intimidation, but he wouldn’t. He would tell them the boss couldn’t be disturbed, but he would not lie.
The boss angrily stormed off, but ultimately, he recognized that if this young man would make a stand like this over something so inconsequential then he could be trusted with much more responsibility.
Yes, it’s better to live poor and blameless and honest in fellowship with God and integrity than rich and far away from Him. We desire unfailing love and the lies may seem expedient, but they clip our wings.
In our drive to succeed and wanting the same for our kids, the need for instilling honesty and integrity is more important than ever.
Would you pray with me for your kids or whoever God would lead you to pray for?
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for (insert child’s name) and the miracle that you have done in forming their life, purpose, and destiny. May they be filled with the Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit who leads and guides us into all truth. May they see the strong convictions of the parents and adults in their lives to live honestly and openly, to conduct all their affairs with integrity.
We have big dreams of achievement for these kids and rightfully so since they could never measure up to Your own dreams for them. But in our quest to see them succeed, I pray that (insert child’s name) understands that relationship with You is more important than any other thing in this life. Short-term advancement is not worth losing Your presence and rejecting Your grace even if for a moment.
In all these things, may they learn and grow and develop into strong men and women of character who will be a generation set apart for you. I thank You for Your light upon them. In Jesus’ name I ask all these things—amen.
[Editor's Note: This post is the 12th contribution to a wonderful series we are doing on Biblical virtues and praying for our children. I firmly believe that as parents, it is part of our responsibility, and an honor, to pray to our Father in heaven on behalf of our children. I pray you are blessed and encouraged by the words of these posts and that you will join me in my passion for growing strong, confident, loving, honorable and faithful children of God. If you missed the first six posts, be sure to go and read them: Love for God's Word, Salvation for the Next Generation, Praying for the Willingness and Ability to Work, Biblical Self-Esteem: I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough... Or Am I?, Love Is..., Perseverance; Faithfulness; Self-Control; Respect; Servant's Heart and Purity]
Jason is a guy who loves Jesus, his wife, and his kids. He's also the pastor of Breakthrough Church in Juneau, AK. You can check out his blog at EndlessImpact.com where the goal is to connect with others in a conversation about life, service, and faith while connecting to God who is true Impact.
Honesty, Integrity, Prayer in Prayers For Our Children
Reader Comments (7)
Praying for my child and yours...may their life be guided by the Truth and lived out in honesty.
What a great story! It's true that sometimes what I tell my kids doesn't always line up with the things I find myself doing. This why I'm glad, for all our sakes, that we have a great God to look to. I'm trying to teach my kids that everyone, even mommy and daddy, makes mistakes, but God is holy and we can perfectly trust Him at all times. Great post Jason, and I'm praying this for my kids today. Love the series idea, Ginny. I'm going to have to check out the other posts.
Thanks Dusty and amen!
Melissa: yes, I definitely know what you mean! We parents can a *few* mistakes along the way, but He is a big God and will always show Himself faithful. Thanks for your thoughts!
I don't have children of my own but I'm involved in children's ministry and love those kids tremendously. I join in with you and cover the next generation with prayer!
Awesome, Tony! Thanks.
Tremendous prayer for our kids....and the parents of those kids! Thanks Jason!
We've got to live there. It's so important! Thank you, Jay.