…Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children...²

Parenting â€" It’s wonderful and difficult. It’s incredibly fulfilling and exhausting. It can be full of joy and pain at the same time. At whatever age and stage our children are in, the territory is constantly changing; it can be a nice walk in the park or a complete 4x4 off-roading experience! There is good news, though â€" we are not alone in this journey! We can count on our Heavenly Father for help and guidance through this most variable terrain. Covering every detail of our children’s lives in prayer is the very best parenting we can offer them; with this great responsibility, we can claim the great power of prayer! Job, from the Old Testament, knew this, and every day he lifted his ten children to the Lord in prayer.

When we think of Job, his parenting skills aren’t normally the first thing that comes to mind, instead we think of his trials and how God allowed him to lose everything. But one thing to notice is that it was his prayer life that allowed him to overcome the atrocities that plagued him. In one of the trials that God allowed Job to endure, he lost all of his children in one day. This in itself was a devastating blow that most parents would not come back from. However, because of Job’s faithfulness to the Lord, God not only filled Job with incomprehensible peace and comfort but filled his home with children again.

Maybe our children are small and still moldable; perhaps they are just beginning to spread their wings or have already left the nest to begin a life on their own; It may be that our children have been lost to the sin of this world and no matter how much you try, you can’t seem to get them back. Pray for them; place their lives in the hands of the Almighty and allow Him to fill you with peace for their lives. Praying for your children doesn’t mean that nothing bad will ever happen to them or that they will never experience pain, but our prayers can be essential in keeping trouble far from them. By placing them in God’s hands we can be sure that they (and we) are in the best hands.

Suggested Prayer: Lord, help me be a parent that prays. I want to lift my children up and ask that You put a hedge of protection around them. Protect their spirit, body, mind, and heart from any kind of harm. Help them to walk in Your ways. Keep them safe wherever they go and in whatever they do. Help me trust that your plan for them is perfect. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

1.    Job 1:5 (ESV).

2.    Lamentations 2:19 (ESV).

Today’s Encounter was written by: Veronica B.