Praying Down the Path of Your Child's Life

The title of this post is also the title of a book that I will be picking up sooner rather than later.  It is written by Tom Bishop, who is the author of several books on prayer.  I follow a blog by a man named Mike Potter, who is the pastor of Foothills Fellowship church in Albuquerque, NM.  I always enjoy reading his posts, but this entry caught my attention.  It was about praying regularly for your kids.  You can read it here. 

As the mom of an almost-five-year-old, sometimes I find myself thinking "What in the world will she encounter at 16, or even 10?"  I think back to when I was in high school...yes, there were people who got pregnant, or drank, etc.  But not many.  Now, you hear about middle schoolers becoming moms, 10 year olds getting caught with guns and kids overdosing on drugs and alcohol!  This freakin' terrifies me! 

Just last night, the TV was on when the American Music Awards started.  During the opening act, I found myself thinking "Am I just getting old, or is this really inappropriate for most kids (and me to be honest) to be watching?"  The answer is yes - to both questions.  I'm getting older, but the opening act by Rhianna was pretty inappropriate - I definitely wouldn't want my kids watching the way she was dancing around provacitively on stage.  But that seems to be the "norm", even on mainstream TV these days.  

Yes, it still scares me when I think of what will be considered the norm in a few years when she is impressionable and trying to fit in.  But that's where "praying down the path" of their life comes in.  It's my job to pray her through those impressionable years. 

So back to Mike Potter's blog entry.  Of course I pray for the safety and well-being for my family.  But sadly enough, I never get much into specifics.  After all, she's only 4, right?  But I've realized that no matter how young she is, she needs specific, fervent prayer.  I want her to have caring, Christian teachers...I want her to grow up with the right friends, have positive experiences in school.  So I need to ask for it.  In quoting Mike's post "When it sunk into my head that God waits until His people pray before He moves, I decided that I didn’t want to miss out on all the things He has for me and my family. I vowed to start asking then and there!"

That's a pretty sobering thought....God waits until you ask before He answers.  He knows what we need, but why give it to us if we just sit around and expect it to be handed to us?  I could miss out on what God has in store for my family.  And that's just not cool.  After all, we all want the very best for our families!  

Princess M deserves to have the best friends - so I will pray for them to come into her life.  She deserves to have the best teachers - I will pray for her to be placed in those classrooms.  She deserves to find a loving, Christian husband - so I will pray for him (although 30 years from now!). 

I can't leave my child's happiness and well-being to chance.  If I want to be the best parent to her that I can be, I need to understand that it's not important for her to have the nicest clothes, the most Christmas gifts or a new car the second the turns 16...if I want to be a great parent, I need to pray her through life.  If I don't, who else will??