In the endearing style of a classroom curriculum, this powerful prayer for our children post will guide you to ask God’s favor and gentle leading for your children.
Dearest one,
When God is your curriculum director, there are subjects you can’t skip and classes you must pass. Some lessons can only be learned the “hard” way while others can be internalized early.
I pray for you today — as always — that you’ll continue to grow in your knowledge of God, the patient Professor.
The more you study His Word and trust His promises, the easier the homework assignments will be.
Here’s a little of my class schedule. May you be a quicker student than me.
[x_custom_headline type=”center” level=”h1″ looks_like=”h3” accent=”true”]8 lessons to learn[/x_custom_headline]
[x_custom_headline type=”center” level=”h1″ looks_like=”h4” accent=”false”]A prayer for our children[/x_custom_headline]
1-English
I want you to ace the punctuation quiz.
You have to trust God’s choice of periods and commas.
Leave the question marks to Him and celebrate when He throws in an exclamation point.
This will apply to all areas:
- As you trust Him to move your career forward on His timing.
- As you trust His closed doors when it comes to finding the right man to give your heart to.
- As you wait for Him to bring all the other things into your life that you want sooner rather than later.
If you can excel at trusting His timing,
you’ll wait better
when there are commas
and
you’ll accept the periods
when paragraphs and chapters close.
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
(Phil. 1:6)
2-Math
Yes, I know you moved on to higher math.
But, child, I want you to go back to the basics.
Back even further than 2 + 2 = 4.
Here’s the equation that …
- proves all theories,
- trumps all differentials,
- removes the limits,
- and is THE integral of all integrals.
It is indefinite, infinite, and absolute:
You + God = A majority
(Actually … God – you = a majority as well.)
God is FOR YOU and HE is GREATER.
The enemy is real. And He prowls.
But lions aren’t very good at math.
“You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”
(1 Jn. 4:4, NASB)
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”
(Rom. 8:31)
“The Lord is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me?”
(Ps. 118:6, NASB)
3-Anatomy & Physiology
“A woman’s heart should be so hidden in God, that a man has to seek Him just to find her.” – Maya Angelou
I pray you hide your heart in God. Seek Him with ALL of it.
Don’t give pieces of it away and don’t open it to just anyone. Guard it.
Set your standards high
and fill your mind with so much WORD
that it will be a
natural filter for any guy
who wants to catch your eyes.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
(Prov. 4:23, NIV)
4-P.E. / Gym class
Run your OWN marathon. You can’t win anyone else’s.
Have you ever watched a horse race? Did you notice the blinders? Horses have peripheral vision and if allowed to use that vision in a race, they will focus on what is at the side or behind. The blinders force them to focus on what is ahead.
The same is true for humans. We can easily get caught up in how others are progressing in their journey and lose sight of what God has intended for us.
It’s not just a cliché: “Comparison is the thief of joy.”
You, my child, are full of joy.
So don’t let the thief tempt you to look to the side or behind and steal your joy.
Believe that God is working in your life,
fix your eyes on Him,
and run your own race.
“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
(Heb. 12:1-2, NASB)
5-Social Science
Specifically, telling time.
I know we covered this a long time ago.
I can still remember how excited you were to learn what the big hand and little hand meant. Gosh, you were the cutest thing.
There will be times in your life when you are going to need to realize — like Esther did — that you may be at that place, “For such a time as this.”
These are rarely easy moments and they always require courage.
I pray you have the
discernment to understand
when you need to speak up
and fight for what is right —
even though it is uncomfortable.
You have so many gifts. Words are one of them.
My prayer is that you’ll know how and when to use them and be bold and brave in your spirit by the power of The Spirit.
“… And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
(Esther 4:14)
6-Geography
Just as I pray you’ll know when to stand and fight, I pray you’ll recognize when it’s time for a change of climate and scenery.
Some battles get to a point where they are no longer worth fighting.
Some people are beyond your help.
Some situations are only exacerbated by your continued efforts.
Taylor Swift didn’t invent the phrase “shake it off” and Elsa is not the original “let it go” girl.
Scripture is full of admonitions that indicate there is a time for both responses.
You’ll need wisdom to know the difference.
And the source for that is off the map.
(James 1:5-6)
“Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.”
(Matt. 10:14, NASB)
7-History
I love that you journal. I hope you’ll continue to write about the times when you understand how God has worked in your life and recount the blessings.
You may have heard me say, “Chisel today’s victories in stone. Write yesterday’s worries in the sand.”
So maybe we should call this a “shop” lesson as well. Take up chiseling, sweet one.
When you choose to
remember what God has done,
it will frame your perspective
for why you wait for what he’ll do.
“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
(Lam. 3:22-23)
8-Earth Science
All sunshine and no rain is the setting for what? ____ (fill in the blank).
You don’t want to live in a desert; you want to live where the harvest is ripe.
That means there’s going to be some rain. Maybe much rain.
I pray you learn to sing and dance in the rain.
And while we are discussing climate, let’s talk about agriculture.
When a seed is planted, it is forced deep down into the dark earth. It ceases to exist as a seed. Its shell begins to break down and crack open. And once it does, new life begins to emerge.
If you could talk to that seed as it was going from the warm spring day down into the cold dark ground, I’m sure it would protest.
If it could, it would resist.
Who would want those circumstances?
If the seed resisted and kept its old circumstances and former shape, it would miss out on the beautiful transformation of becoming something far better and more useful than it could have imagined.
What you may view one day
as certainly “not good”
~ in the hands of your GOOD God ~
transforms into something for your good
that you couldn’t have even fathomed.
“There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven— A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.”
(Ecc. 3:1-2, NASB)
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”
(Gal. 6:9-10, NIV)
I pray for your strength to grow into the plan and calling God has on your life.
I pray that you will know the fullness of how deeply God loves you and that you’ll never doubt my love for even a moment.
I’ll always be on your side. Always your greatest cheerleader. Always praying.
Mom
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Launching teenagers into young adulthood is not for the faint of heart.
Parenting teens is hard.
You’ll be reminded you’re not alone in this stage.
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