And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.
EXODUS 14:13
This scene depicts the children of Israel as they cross the Red Sea. The Egyptians are pounding after them in chariots; they are petrified and feel helpless and hopeless believing that their fate was sealed.
Well let me assure you that whatever your enemy has thrown against you and/or your children, that he does not have the last word.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
EPHESIANS 6:14-18
A Lesson From Job
The Bible says of itself, “whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4).
Job is an example to us today of taking a stand of faith in a time of great suffering. In his season of significant adversity, he declared “I know that my redeemer liveth”.
But this is not the only lesson that we can learn from Job.
Indeed, we find that Job also declared “the thing that I feared has come upon me.” What did Job fear? Well, apparently he had fear concerning his children.
Job continually made sacrifices unto God because he feared that they may have sinned against God and cursed Him in their hearts.
When the days of their feasting were over, Job would send [for them] and consecrate them, rising early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Job did this at all [such] times.
JOB 1:5
Don’t we have a tendency to do this as parents? We feel that we have to take things into our hands and cause our children to line up with God’s plan for them?
The problem with this notion is that we are excluding the factor that our children have to have their own walk with God, and we as parents have to trust the Lord Who gave them to us, and we have to release them to God.
It is tough for us to watch them make mistakes (the same ones that we made), and do nothing.
Well, there is something that we can do which I will come to in a moment, but first we have to tap into this paradox that we find in the fourth chapter of Hebrews, which basically says that we have to work in order to experience rest in the Lord.
Sometimes (especially if for whatever reason we feel like we did not do everything that we could have done for our children, I believe most could say Amen), we have to work in order to find rest (peace) in the Lord concerning our children.
What I mean by work is simply praying the scriptures over our children and believe that the anointing on the Word of God is bringing itself to pass. Amen?
We can rest in the knowledge that the Lord loves our children more than we do and he loves us. He gave us our children to steward (which we can do most effectively through prayer, but without worry).
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
ROMANS 8:30-32
My husband and I have been privileged to pray for parents (all over the country) who request prayer for their children. We, as parents have a divine opportunity to be in partnership with God through prayer over the safety, direction and destiny of our children.
However, when we pray for them, we have to release that thing to God and leave it there. We are not to go back and pick it up and continually ask God about it.
We must take up the shield of faith and trust that He heard us and that He will protect them, keep them, deliver our children from the hand of the enemy.
The most effective thing that we can do while we wait for the manifestation of our prayers is to pray the scriptures over them. We don’t do this in a repetitious way, but rather offering up thanksgiving to the Lord for the answer to prayer in His timing and in His way.
We Can Not Lose With The Stuff That We Use
The power of praying the scriptures over our children can not be overestimated. However, when we pray, we must pray with a blessed assurance that the Lord loves us (and our children), and that He has in fact already answered our prayers. Do not pray, “O Lawd, ham mercy on me Jesus. I don’t know what I am going to do wit these here children that you don gave me Lawd; they just won’t do right Jesus.” No! Pray like you know that your heavenly Father loves you and that He has the power to do just what you are asking Him to do…in His time.
It is not up to us to decide when, where and how God will answer our prayers concerning our children. It is our job to stand in the gap for them using our weapons of warfare in a skillful manner. So, our prayers of thanksgiving unto God for our children might look something like this:
Father in the name of Jesus, I thank You that you give ______________ a heart to know you, (fully understanding) that You are the Lord, and that they belong to You and You will be there God; for you have declared “they will return to me with their whole heart”. (Jeremiah 24:7)
Or,
Lord, I thank You that all of our children are taught of the Lord, and great is the peace of our children. They increase in wisdom and in age, and favor with God and with man. (Isaiah 54:13)
This is the prayer that the Lord has given me to pray recently: “Father, I thank You that You are increasing us more and more, us and our children. The Blood of Jesus be applied to their lives purging their consciousness’ from dead works to serving the living God. (Psalm 115:14, Hebrews 9:14)
When we pray the scriptures over our children, we are holding the shield of faith and declaring that no weapon that is formed against them shall prosper, we can rest assured that we have done our part. The only thing left to do is to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. The enemies that you see attacking your children today, you will see them no more (at God’s appointed time). That’s why it is called faith, because it is not in our timing, but in His timing that we see the manifestation of our prayers (with thanksgiving, not dread or questioning whether or not God has the power to bring it to pass). And, in fact, He has not left us helpless; without a leg to stand on:
Listen carefully: I have given you authority [that you now possess] to tread on serpents and scorpions, and [the ability to exercise authority] over all the power of the enemy (Satan); and nothing will [in any way] harm you.
LUKE 10:19 (AMP)
Conclusion
Here is a paradox: As parents, we want to do something to influence our children’s direction in life, but Jesus said allow them to come unto Him. So, in a sense, we have to sit on the sidelines and allow HIs will to be done in their lives. But at the same time, there is something that we can do: Pray The Scriptures Over Them (and rest in Him)!
Tip: As parents, we also have a responsibility to ask God if there is something that we are doing to hold our children in bondage.
In the wilderness, it was the parents who held the children in that position (wilderness wandering) through their unbelief. Nevertheless, forty years later it was the children who moved forward to possess the land.
Your children have destiny on their lives and the enemy does not want them to walk in it, but you have the power to call it forth in the name of Jesus. Hold up the shield of Faith and call them (into their destiny by praying the Word of God over them, and then resting in Him). They are coming!
Resources for Praying The Scriptures over your children: The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartin and Praying The Scriptures For Your Children by Jodie Berndt
Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
PSALM 127:3
Grace and Peace to you.
Silvana
