The Final Six - Prayer

by Mollie

  This is it.. The final 6 ways to pray over your kiddos.

#26:  The willingness and ability to work hard. "Teach them, Lord, to value work and to work hard at everything they do, 'as working for the Lord, not for human masters'"  (Col 3:23)

#27:  A passion for God. "Instill in them, Lord, a soul that 'followeth hard after thee,' a heart that clings passionately to you (Ps 63:8)

#28: Self-discipline.  "Father, may they develop self-discipline, that they may acquire 'a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair" (Prov 1:3)

#29:  Prayerfulness. "Grant, Lord, that their lives may be marked by prayerfulness, that they may learn to 'pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests'" (Eph 6:18)

#30:  Gratitude. 'help them to live lives 'overflowing with thankfulness'; that they may be always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ'" (Col 2:7)

#31:  A heart for missions. "Lord, please develop in them a desire to see your glory declared among the nations, your marvelous deeds among all peoples" (Ps 96:3)


  I know that my family and I have enjoyed praying through these.

If you missed the first segments you can find them here:

Numbers 1-10
Numbers 11-15
Numbers 16-20
Numbers 21-25


Blessings!

 

# 21 - 25

by Mollie

 We are almost through all 30 of the ways to pray over your kiddos.  Last week, #20 was compassion.  It kind of piggy backs the idea of generosity and was really cool to pray over Zoie & Pennie.  I am in the process of cleaning out our garage (big STINK!) but hopefully we can be generous with the things that we no longer use!

  On to the task at hand:

 #21: Responsibility. "Grant that they may learn responsibility, 'for each of you should carry your own load'" (Gal 6:5)

 #22: Contentment. "Father, teach them 'the secret of being content in any and every situation...through him who gives [them] good strength" (Phil 4:12-13)

 #23: Faith. "I pray that faith will find root and grow in my children's hearts, that by faith they may gain what has been promised to them" (Luke 17:5-6, Heb 11:1-40)

 #24:  A servant heart, "God, please help them develop servant hearts, that they may serve wholeheartedly, 'as if [they] were serving the Lord, not people" (Eph 6:7)

 #25: Hope. "May the God of hope grant that they may overflow with hope and hopefulness by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Rom 15:13)

 Hope you have a great week getting ready for Christmas!

Blessings,

More ways to Pray

by Mollie

    I hope that you are having a fantastic week.  I know that our Christmas tree is up, our lights are up (thanks honey!), and we have been enjoying Christmas movies almost nightly. I'm a little over "Prep & Landing" at this point, but Zoie LOVES it so it will continue!

   In my previous post about prayer I covered the first 10 ways to pray for your children.  If you didn't catch those click HERE

   I hope that you are already seeing a difference in the way you are praying for your kiddos and its starting to bless your family.  Here are numbers 11-15.

  #11:  Faithfulness. "Let love and faithfulness never leave {them},' but bind these twin virtues around their necks and write them on the tablet of their hearts" (Prov 3:3)

 #12: Courage.  "May they always 'be strong and courageous' in their character and in their action" (Deut 3:16)

 #13: Purity.  "Create in [them] a pure heart, O God,' and let their purity of heart be shown in their actions" (Ps 51:10)

 #14: Kindness. "Lord, may they 'always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else" (1 Thess 5:15)

 #15: Generosity. "Grant that they may 'be generous and willing to share [and so] lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age" (1 Tim 6:18-19)


 The author, Bob Hostetler, end the article saying this: "I discovered an additional benefit: as I prayed with my children each night, the Lord brought to mid the quality I'd prayed for that morning, and I would repeat my request in their hearing.  Before long, they began to echo my praying and pour out their own hearts in prayer for the very virtues I desired to see in them.  Thus, my simple prayer program changed not only how I pray, but also how my children pray...and, by God's grace, how they live as well."

  I hope you and your family have a very blessed week!

The Power of Prayer

by Mollie

  Welcome to GVC kids ministry blog!!  I am thrilled that you are here, make sure you follow the blog or sign up to have the posts delivered to your inbox so that you are up on the latest things happening here in Kids Ministry!

Check out the links on the left side of the blog for our upcoming events!

 I hope that all of you are recovering from Thanksgiving and gearing up for Christmas!  Last week I sent out an email about the power of prayer and praying for our kids.  Nicole, our new co-director, gave me an article titled "31 Ways to Pray for Your Children" and it has been great! I shared that first 5 with you last week.  Quick recap..
 
    The author, Bob Hostetler, said "Each day of the month, in addition to praying for their safety ad for the concerns of that day, I also ask God to plant and nurture in them a specific character trait, virtue, or fruit of the Spirit, through my and my wife's efforts, through the influence of others, and through their own actions and decisions."

  The first 5 are:

  #1: Salvation. "Lord, let salvation spring up within them, that they may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory" (Isa 45:8, 2 Tim 2:10)

 #2: Growth in grace: "I pray that they may 'grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 3:18)

 #3: Love. "Grant, Lord, that my children may learn to 'live a life of love,' through the Spirit who dwells in them" (Eph 5:2, Gal 5:22)

 #4: Honest and Integrity. "May integrity and honesty be their virtue and their protection" (Ps 25:21)

 #5: Self-control. "Father, help them to be 'alert and self-controlled' in all they do" (1 Thess 5:6)


   I don't know about you, but praying those five things for my children really challenged me.  Beyond the fact that I want my children to have these five qualities in their life and I can PRAY for these things to come about, my children need an example. I SHOULD BE THAT EXAMPLE.  I think when I realized that in its entirety my stomach hit the floor, and then my knees.  I need to be dousing my children with prayer and the protection of the Holy Spirit AND praying these things to be true in my husband and my life as well.

  Here are your next 5:

 #6: A love for God's Word. "May they grow to find your Word 'more precious than gold, than much pure gold; [and] sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb" (Ps 19:10)

 #7: Justice. "God, help them to love justice as you do and 'act justly' in all they do" (Ps 11:7, Micah 6:8)

 #8: Mercy.  "May they always 'be merciful,, as [their] Father is merciful" (Luke 6:36)

 #9: Respect (for self, others, and authority).  "Father, grant that they may 'show proper respect to everyone,' as your Word commands" (1 Pet 2:17a)

#10: Strong, biblical self-esteem. "help them to develop a strong self-esteem that is rooted in the realization that they are 'God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus" (Eph 2:10)

  I hope that you find the opportunity this week to pray these specific prayers over your kiddos, it will bless YOU more than you know.

Blessings,