I wish you
I was recently praying for my children and was wondering, how shall I pray for them?
- For God to protect them from diseases
- For God to save them from problems
- For God to save them from people who could harm them
- For God to help you in their studies
- For God to help them make good decisions
- Etc.
Some of these requests seem selfish because, who goes through life without ever becoming sick? Who goes through life without having any problems? Who goes through life without ever been treated badly by someone?
So, what is the best thing I can wish for them? What is the most important prayer that I can do for them?
At some point during my prayer I was illuminated (thanks God for His Holy Spirit!) and understood that there is no better prayer for my children than to ask God to make them his children.
Long ago a woman named Ana prayed God for a son and vowed to devote him to God. (1 Samuel 1:9-11, 19-20). God heard her prayer, and granted her request. The result: the birth of Samuel the prophet, a great man of God. Why would a woman without a child vow to return the child to God (vow she kept after she weaned him – 1 Samuel 1:22)? Wasn’t it easier to promise something else like “I will take my son to the temple every week and teach him your word? But this woman knew that the best thing she could wish for her child was for him to serve God. And she was right.
What could be better than devoting our children to God? What wish could be better for them than loving God with all their heart? If they belong to God anything that happens to them will eventually result in blessing.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. – Romans 8:28
Yes! There will be problems, diseases, conflicts, etc. Just read about bible characters who loved God to understand that even they went through problems, and some of them extremely difficult (Abraham, Moses, Daniel, Pedro Stephen, Paul, etc.). Yet in the midst of their problems they decided to love God.
consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. – Romans 8:18
When we “fix our eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2) problems can not blur our purpose which is “to press on toward the goal” (Philippians 3:14): to reach the celestial city.
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country-a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.- Hebrews 11:13-16
Certainly when I pray for my children I still pray for different things, but my biggest request is for them to love God with all their heart.
This is my wish for my children. This is also my wish for you.
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