[Editor's Note: This post is the second 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.]
By Nick (My Experience As...)
First let me say thank you for the opportunity. I used to write nearly every day but lately I have been so busy that I haven’t done any writing. This is helping me more than I can say.
If you know me then you can skip this paragraph, but if you don’t it might be helpful to get an idea of where I’m coming from. I am a father to 4 children. I love them dearly and believe each to be a gift from God. I mean this quite literally as my wife had two miscarriages and a tubal before we had our first and we were both struggling with horrible depression until God spoke to us through our pastor. This is a powerful story that I’d invite you to read on my blog. I’m also a youth pastor and have well over 50 students I pray for all the time. My heart breaks for most of them because I know they have heard the truth, but have not responded to it.
I believe we need to pray for our children daily. I don’t even mean our natural children, but all those of this generation of students. I have made a strong effort to get the names of all of my students, even those who came once and haven’t been back, into the hands of people in my church. I ask them to pray for the kids every day, and I know they are covered in prayers. We pray for protection, and peace. We ask for strength and wisdom. We seek blessing and perseverance on their behalf.
The most important concern, though, is their salvation. We are familiar with Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:26:
"What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?"
We can have every good thing in life but it doesn’t matter if our soul is not secure. We see that in the account of the Rich Young Ruler in Luke 18:18-29. He had it all, he was rich, powerful, and young. By the standards of any culture that made him a winner, but then he goes on to talk about how much he has done for God. At face value he is everything we want for our children, but he came to Christ, certainly something else we would pray fervently for our children, but hearing the cost of salvation he walk away from Christ. Pay close attention to his reaction, “he became very sad.”
Of course, we might be tempted to think that our children are saved and so we can stop praying continually for their salvation. I would urge you to rethink this laxidasical approach to prayer. Paul says, “Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory,” in 2 Timothy 2:10. Consider that he is actually saying that he endures these things for those who are the “elect” so that they might obtain salvation. These are the ones who have come to Christ and know about Him. They are raised with Him and believe on Him, but this is not enough for Paul. Jesus puts it this way in Matthew 24:13, “but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
We know God’s grace is amazing and overwhelming, so we get lazy in our prayers and then wonder what happened to these children when they walk out and fall in love with the world. Our prayers ceased and they were lured by the siren call to doom.
Fret not though, we can find hope in the story of the Prodigal Son. In this story we see a young man who walked away. He lived his own life his own way and ended up destroying it. Through his brokenness and shame he returned to the path that brought him back home and he was restored to the former life by grace and love.
As a pastor I feel I must say “so as I close” at least once, so there it is.
Please pray for your own children, but also pray for their friends and the children of your friends. Seek out the names of youth in your church. Surprise the youth pastor by asking for students you can pray for. Then bring these names continually before God. Know that this is warfare of the highest order so prepare for more than a quick, “please save Bob” as you pray over your meals. Remember the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8. She didn’t give up; she didn’t just randomly ask the judge whenever they met on the street. She sought him out and bothered him. She made a nuisance of herself until the judge relented. This is how we must pray for this most urgent of requests.
MAD21