While They Are Sleeping...

"Arise...
Cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin;

Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord.

Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children." Leviticus 2:19 (NIV)

Something I have been convicted deeply of as of late, is how I need to be investing time in prayer for my children. My biggest take away from a funeral that I went to just weeks ago was how this father stood in the doorway of his daughters' rooms and prayed over them - every single night - during the years that they lived under his roof.

And as grown women with children of their own now, they still remember this. What a legacy this father left for his daughters to pass onto their children! And really, what greater gift can we give to our children? I daily - multiple times and in multiple areas, daily - will fail my boys in parenting them.

But I can "lift up my hands" and "pour out my heart" to my Savior in prayer for their very lives. I can be a success in this one area. Because the power doesn't lay in the mumbling words prayed by the Mama who is a mess, in the first place. The power of prayer is in the ONE who hears it --- not the one who says it.

* * * * * *
So, this week, I have prayed for kindness in my children's lives. Specifically:
:: Deliverance from holding their possessions too tightly.
:: Sensitivity to seeing ways where they can meet the needs of the people around them.
:: That they would experience the blessing that comes with giving.
:: That they would know, first hand, that it's more blessed to give than to receive.
:: That they will respond to each other gently and with kindness.
:: That they will show compassion to those around them.
:: They they will, even at this young age, become sensitive to God's control over the events and people in their lives.
:: They they will resolve conflicts in ways that honor the Lord.
:: That they will guard their hearts from selfishness.
:: That they will be tenderhearted and humble; quick to forgive and extend forgiveness.
:: That they will be grateful and think of others' needs above their own.

* * * * * *
This is the book that Mom bought for all of us kids a few months ago.
This book - and that funeral - are what are inspiring these prayers for my children.

And that verse.

I can sense the urgency in those words. So much so, that it almost scares me.
Satan wants our children. The world wants our children.
"But greater is He that is in us....."
And by God's grace, He alone will have my boys...