by bob hostetler
For years, like any responsible Christian parent, I prayed daily for my two children, Aubrey and Aaron. I prayed for God’s blessing and protection throughout their days. I prayed for them to be happy. I asked God to help them through difficult times and to help them make wise choices. My prayers were regular, heartfelt, and–for the most part–pedestrian and repetitive.
I wanted more than that, however. I wanted so much for my children, but when I knelt in prayer, I invariably found the same tired words rolling from my lips, like an adult whose table grace never progressed beyond “God is great, God is good, now we thank him for this food…”
Then one day, Nancy, our pastor’s wife, shared a testimony during a morning worship service that changed this parent’s prayer life. She told how her concern that her children develop strong Christian morals and the fruits of the Spirit had prompted her to develop a unique prayer list, that included reminders to pray for her children’s salvation and growth in grace, as well as other concerns (such as that they would “be leaders, not followers”).
That day I decided to follow Nancy’s example, and develop a “parent’s prayer program” of my own, a simple practice that has revolutionized the way I pray for my children. Each day of the month, in addition to my prayers for their safety and for the concerns of that day, I also pray for a specific character trait, virtue, or fruit of the Spirit to be planted and nurtured in my children, through my efforts (and my wife’s), through the influence of others, and through Aubrey and Aaron’s own actions and decisions. At the end of each month, I begin praying through the list again, combining traits when the month is shorter than thirty-one days.
To read the rest of the article, go HERE.
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