A Prayer for our Kids

 The endless parade of political ads on TV and the signs everywhere might be a clue that there's an election Tuesday. Most know that I follow politics and have some opinions on the subject. And of course, you do not have to agree with me for us to be friends. Of course if you disagree with me you're wrong - but we can still be friends. Dave Wenger is the nicest communist you're ever going to meet.

That being said - while I do believe that politics are important, and I will be voting Tuesday in a way that reflects my faith, and I do encourage you to vote, too - there's a bigger issue I want to address this morning. And it's the reason behind why I believe that politics are important. In fact, this issue actually gives real meaning and lasting importance to the changing nature of politics. While I am very concerned with government and what happens there - I am most concerned with what happens in my own home.

We are called to pray for our rulers and leaders and I strongly encourage you to do that - but we also need to pray for our kids and our grandkids. And as we see the direction our culture is headed, even more so! Politicians will come and go and nations will prosper and fall. While I am very concerned about the future of America, the faith of our children has eternal consequences. I will vote - but I am but one voice among millions. The opportunity to influence our kids and grandkids for Jesus holds much more power, and has a more lasting impact.

I've been very excited to see the revitalization of our children's ministries here after being forced to shut down for so long. There are so many who see the importance of ministering to our kids and have stepped up into new roles. Thank you for your time, energy and service!

I want to again share a habit that I think would be a huge blessing. It's not a magic formula or a guarantee of spiritual success with your kids or grandkids - but there are three things for which I'd encourage each of us to regularly pray for our children. The first and most important thing is that they would...

I. Know Jesus

Is there anything more important for them than that? We can pray for good health or a successful life - but without Jesus, nothing else matters! The result of the elections do matter - but if my kids don't know Jesus, what do I care if my preferred politician gets into office...?

I'm not implying this is an 'either or' situation - we can care about both things, and we should. But think about this imaginary scenario - imagine if all the time and money that's been spent over this last election cycle would have been used to introduce young people to Jesus... Now I understand that's completely imaginary - but would those resources and effort used in that way make a real difference in our nation? Would it make a difference in the lives of our kids and grandkids?

John 14:6 (NIV)

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Years ago when we were in the process of adoption and were being interviewed by the 'birth mother', she asked us, "What are your hopes for this baby?" I was going to say that maybe I hoped he'd be strong and healthy, but Erin instantly replied, "We want Him to know Jesus as his Lord and Savior." Way to go, Mom! And the 'birth mother' chose us to be Winston's parents.

Mark 8:35-36 (NIV)

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. (36) What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?

Nothing is more important than your kid's relationship with Jesus! I pray that my children will know Jesus as their Lord and Savior!

And understand something - I am all for the children's programs we have at Deep River. I believe they are essential in growing as a body of believers. However, if for some crazy reason we had to cancel Sunday school and Children's Church - it happened before - my kids would still be taught about Jesus. That's because it's my personal responsibility as a parent to teach them.

During the pandemic, when everything was shut down - did your kid's need for Jesus stop? During that time - did anyone still talk to them about Jesus? What the volunteers do here in working with your kids is to be in support of what you are teaching your children in your homes.

Some might say - "But I don't know that much about the Bible myself. I don't have the training to teach them Bible stories. I'm too busy providing a roof over their heads to teach them Bible stories." If that is the case, I suggest - "Start reading and learning the Bible yourself. Get the experience and the training. Make the time. There is nothing more important than your kids and grandkids knowing Jesus!" And that applies to our 'adult children' as well.

My father shared the following regarding his desire for his children to know Jesus. He wrote... "The time to influence and lead our children... is while they are still young. Once they grow up, it's almost too late.

If any of my adult children did not have a solid, saving relationship with Jesus, I would be on my knees and at their door until I had done absolutely everything that I could do or say to let them know that I had neglected my greatest spiritual responsibility toward them. I would not give up pleading with them on behalf of Jesus. I would rather go to my grave from starvation and want, knowing that I had reached out to my children for Jesus, than to go before the Father having had a successful ministry to the world knowing that one of my children was going to Hell from disbelief."

Is there anything more important than Jesus? Pray for your kids and grandkids to know Jesus! Share Jesus with them!

The second thing, for which I'd encourage each of us to regularly pray for our children, is that God would provide them with...

II. A place of service

Not necessarily a place of power or influence - but a place of service in God's Kingdom. I want my kids to be used for God's purposes. I want them to give their lives to something that will last; something that has meaning. I don't want them just to get an education and chase a career and spend their life on something that only benefits them. I want them to accept a higher calling; to spend their lives for Jesus. I want them to understand Paul's words in Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV)...

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - (9) not by works, so that no one can boast. (10) For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

God has given me these children on loan. Ultimately, they are His and it's my job to teach them why God created them in the first place - for His pleasure. I honestly do not care what job they pursue, what they choose to do with their lives as long as they are living them for God with all their hearts.

In the Old Testament, God commanded the Israelites to teach their children how to live. Let's look at Deuteronomy 11:18-21 (NIV)...

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. (19) Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

(20) Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, (21) so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the LORD swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.

Can we expect to teach these things to our children and grandchildren if we don't spend much time with them? Can we expect to teach these things if we're never around, if we're never sitting together in our house, if we're never walking with them, if our kids are in bed by the time we get home and still asleep when we leave for work?

Now the way it used to be in Bible times and even in our culture until just a handful of generations ago, fathers and sons spent long hours plowing together, harvesting together, working in the fields working side by side to provide for the family. Mothers and daughters spent long hours sewing and cleaning and cooking together. Those long hours of being side by side presented opportunities to actually talk.

Now I'm not advocating getting rid of progress or technology and going back to 'the good old days'. That's not my point - but it is true that we don't spend the same time together like families did back when this was written.

God directed His followers to take the time to teach His commands to the next generation. They were to take time to pass along Godly values about honesty and integrity and purity. Today, because of commutes to work, busyness, school and separated schedules - the time we spend as family has dwindled.

A big part of the problem we see all around us in our society is the result of messed up relationships. It's very difficult to teach truth apart from honest, meaningful relationships and relationships take time. We are to teach when we sit, walk, lie down, and get up. In other words, God wants us to teach His truths in every relational interaction with our children - even the seemingly mundane.

And yes, if you do that, people will think you're weird. They'll think you're a fanatic. And it requires a big sacrifice of your time. But can you think of a better way of investing your time than in leading the next generation to Jesus? - In helping them find their place of service for God? What they choose to do with their lives matters greatly for eternity.

If we don't teach them - the world will teach them, and they will follow the path of the world, and they will not follow Jesus, and they will not serve God, and they will miss out on spending eternity with God. Teach them that this life is more than just job success and accumulating stuff. I want my kids to know the joy and purpose that comes from serving God!

The third thing, for which I'd encourage each of us to regularly pray for our children, is that God would bless them with...

III. Godly marriages

Not everyone will choose to get married, but as one who has been blessed by marrying a Godly woman - I know firsthand how much a Godly marriage can be a blessing to your life. And we've all seen how much a broken marriage can cause pain and heartache to a family.

Every good parent wants their kids to have the best life they can. A Godly marriage can be a huge contributor towards having a great life. A Godly spouse can be a huge blessing. I pray, even as young as they are now, that God would be working in the life of their future mate even now to help prepare them and keep them safe. I pray for a Godly Christian spouse for them as they serve Jesus.

And there's a dual purpose for this prayer. Obviously God is not just about 'granting wishes' if we just pray the right words. I do request this blessing for my kids - but it's not just for their benefit.

Marriage has taken a beating in our culture. The divorce rate climbs, it's the cultural norm that couples are living together and having sex before marriage and with multiple partners, affairs are encouraged by many; the very definition of marriage has been redefined to now include same sex couples. None of that was ever God's design. God designed marriage as something to be respected, something to be held in high esteem, something holy. Now it's just a legal term used for any relationship the court decides is acceptable.

But God's design for marriage was to point us to something higher, to point us to His unconditional love for us - to point us to Christ's relationship with the Church! Back to Paul's words, this time from Ephesians 5:25-32 (NIV)...

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her (26) to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, (27) and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. (28) In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

(29) After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church - (30) for we are members of his body. (31) "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." (32) This is a profound mystery - but I am talking about Christ and the church.

In my role as a minister - performing a wedding ceremony is not one of a 'justice of the peace'. I have a dual status in performing a marriage. Legally, I am a representative of the State - but spiritually, and more importantly - I represent God's authority in joining a man and a woman to reflect His glory! Marriage is not just for our benefit, but for God's higher purposes! That's why we don't get to redefine marriage.

In my role as a father - something I realized as I was praying for my children was that there was another vitally important thing I could do in order to help prepare my kids for their future marriage - be a good example. How can I expect them to be Godly spouses if I don't model that in my life? Now, I'm not saying that I'm even close to perfect by any stretch - but I have to do my part in modeling for them what a Christian spouse should look like. It's my job to show my kids, to teach my kids how to live like a Christian.

So What?

Remember the imaginary scenario I painted earlier - imagine if all the time and money that's been spent over this last election cycle would have been used to introduce young people to Jesus...? We know, even despite the impact it might have - it would, of course, never happen. But you praying for your kids or grandkids - that's absolutely possible! And imagine the impact that could have!

Your children and grandchildren watch you. Do you want them to learn to pray? Then they had better see you praying. Do you want them to read the Bible? Let them see you reading your Bible; better yet, read it with them.

Our kids need to see our faith lived out in order for them to see it's real. If our families see that we are not committed to our faith in Jesus in all situations even when it's hard, or inconvenient, or exhausting or costs us - they won't follow. If I want my kids to live Christian lives, to know Jesus and have a place of service in His Kingdom, and to have, as I pray, 'Godly marriages' - I need to pray for them and teach them at every opportunity.

If we don't teach our kids, someone else will. If we don't actively work to pass on Godly values - I guarantee there are plenty of people in this world who will teach them their values. I hope this suggested prayer for our kids becomes your prayer for your kids and grandkids. Let's pass on our faith for the sake of their eternity and for the sake of God's message of love and hope!