If I were to lay it all out on the table for you, I’d say that I haven’t been the praying mom I’d like to be. I’m often too busy walking through the rhythms of daily life with kids and family to stop and actually pray for my children.
You can be sure I pray. Oh, yes.
I pray for sanity, the tension headache I’ve had for four days to go away, the preschoolers to behave while we’re trying to do school, and that I’d be a Christ-like example even when life gets stressful. I’m aching for peace. For room to think and breathe. I pray for these things. I’m desperate for these things.
Of course there are lots of other things I’m praying for, and often, but I’ve been alerted to my lack of prayers for my children. All along I’ve been so desperate to do this mom thing well and to have it feel good too, that I’ve forgotten to pray that my kids do their lives well. None of our children are waiting for their stories to begin. They’re in them right now.
I pray for my children. But man, I want to do better. For them. For Him.
The most important thing I can pray for them is that they bring glory to God in every situation that comes their way. Of course we want our kids to be healthy and safe, be influencers, make good choices, marry great people, and so on. And it’s right and good to pray for these things. But are we desperate for what we desire for our kids more than we’re desperate for Jesus? More than we’re desperate for our kids to know Jesus?
I know I’ve been.
I was on an airplane recently surrounded by four of my kids and miraculously had some time to pull out and begin reading the book I’d brought. Which is another miracle in itself. I think I have this strange form of air travel ADD. I’m not kidding. I never read the book I bring in my carry-on and can only concentrate in small snippets of time when confined to a seat in those metal tubes speeding through the air at 39,000 feet. I flip through the Sky Mall, read the ingredients on the complimentary bag of snack mix, and manage to memorize the in-flight movie options in English and Spanish well before cracking open my book. But this time was different. This book was important. Plus the font was large and the pages small. Bonus.
I’m only a few chapters in, and already it’s dog-eared and highlighted in all the good places. But this book. This book! I don’t usually cry reading books, unless you count Little Britches or Charlotte’s Web, but I’ve near cried several times already as I turned the pages of this one. Tears well in the corners of my eyes because I want to be this kind of mom. The kind that prays circles around her children.
The book is called Praying Circles Around the Lives of Your Children by Mark Batterson. It is exactly what this mama is needing right now. It’s making me think long and hard about praying for my kids and the long-term effect.
And today we have some great news! We’re giving away a hardcover copy of Mark Batterson’s book! You can enter the contest below, which will remain open until Wednesday. We’ll be announcing the winner in Friday’s post. So, we’ll see you then!
Also, don’t forget to come back on Wednesday to catch the newest episode of The Masterpiece Mom podcast! Find past episodes of the podcast right here on the blog, or look us up on iTunes!
**If you’re reading this as an email, consider clicking HERE to enter the giveaway on the blog.
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Amanda Bacon
Latest posts by Amanda Bacon (see all)
- Distracted Mom Syndrome - September 14, 2021
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- Into the Presence of God {A Prayer for the Hard Times} - August 17, 2021
I love the picture this title creates, prayer circles- circles of grace, protection, love, peace. I, too, want to be much more intentional in praying for my children.I pray they walk as a friend of God, always knowing His voice.
i pray that no matter what my children will know, love, and serve God all their lives.
This sounds like a great book! It’s amazing what the Lord does when we pray. Oh, that I would just ask. Thanks for the reminder.
This book looks amazing! Than. You for the encouraging posts!
I pray for their salvation
This is obviously something God is wanting to bring to my attention, as it was suggested by my dear friend Kimberly on Friday. Stopping in our tracks to pray. And then again yesterday, when I called my grandma on her a 95th birthday. Sometimes as a mom we feel like we need to actively be working on our kids. With God sometimes it feels opposite. He wants us to be actively praying & letting Him do the work. I’ve been struggling with my two little ones lately, but I have been praying for myself to survive this, what I hope is only a phase. Looks like I need a new approach.
I always pray that my children are protected from the evil influences that they may encounter daily. Our children live in a world so much more saturated with evil than the one I grew up in. When I think on it all it makes me realize how necessary our Savior is…We cant do this without Him!
My husband and I do not have children yet, but we are very close to being licensed as foster/foster-to-adopt parents. The Lord laid it on my heart a number of months ago to pray for the children He is going to give us. I have a monthly calendar that I use to pray scripture over them each day.
I always find myself praying for each kiddo through specific seasons of life…school struggles, behavior issues, my abilities to help them through life. Praying for their faith in Jesus…yes, need to do that more!
So important to pray for our children. Something to always remember when we are slogging through daily life.
Sounds like a wonderful book! I to always feel that I am not praying for my kids enough.
I pray that the hearts would follow Christ and they would be an example to others in there lives.
I pray that my children will hear God’s voice and walk with Him all the days of their lives.
I have been praying for my boys to grow up to be Godly men since before they were born.