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Prayer Tip: Teach Your Children Well

September 10, 2023
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Daily Scripture

Scripture: Psalm 78:6-7 (NIV)

[God] commanded our ancestors
to teach their children,
so the next generation would know [his commands],
even the children yet to be born,
and they in turn would tell their children.
Then they would put their trust in God
and would not forget his deeds
but would keep his commands.

Daily Reflection & Prayer

What a blessing it is to see our children come to know God. That has always been my prayer for my (now grown) kids. As today’s Scripture says, I pray that they will “…put their trust in God, and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands. (Psalm 78:6-7). I believe that praying for my children is powerful because it not only puts these precious souls into God’s hands (and reminds me to remember that is where they belong), but also links the generations to God via those loving prayers.

This week, I got to see that link and it touched my heart. I hope it touches yours. It is a posting from my son Sam, about his daughter (my 3-year-old granddaughter) Abby. Lydia is her baby sister:

Every night, Abby chooses a stack of books to have next to her bed. She looks at them by the glow of the night light while Alison or I get Lydia to fall asleep. Among her selections tonight was the Jesus Storybook Bible. Great book, great illustrations…and something like 350 pages long. And of course, it was the bottom book in the stack, meaning that by the time I got Lydia asleep and resting in her crib, Abby was only just starting to look at her beautiful but lengthy kids Bible.

I thought about telling her we needed to set it to the side so I could finish up tucking her into bed and she could get some sleep. But before I could say anything, I paused—or, maybe, the Holy Spirit paused me. I watched her leaf through the pages, looking at the pictures, and heard her muttering little summaries of the stories she recognized. The snake in the garden. Daniel and the lion’s den. Jonah and the really big fish. Jesus calms the storm. Jesus dies on the cross. Jesus living once again.

I just sat there and watched her. And I prayed. I prayed that what I was witnessing might be, by God’s grace, the foundation of a lifelong love of the Bible. That maybe, just maybe, her enjoyment of these remembered stories and vivid pictures would make a permanent space—small now, but growing with time—in her heart for the love of the truth I wholeheartedly believe to be found in Scripture, and so desperately want her too as well.

Her first little solo Bible study. Oh Lord, would you please, please make it the first of many. And just as she was tonight, would you bless her to continue to be delighted by the familiar in those pages, and excited to find out more about the unknown.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, who wanted the children to come to you and see God’s love and kindness, help us as we pray for our children and all the children in our lives and in our communities and in the world. Help us always to remember that they are all your children first. Show us how to help them come to know you, through your love and your Word. Amen.

GPS Insights

Picture of Jennifer Creagar

Jennifer Creagar

This week's prayer tip is by Jennifer Creagar, the Community Assistance Coordination Director in Resurrection's Congregational Care Ministry. She is married and loves spending time with her family, and she enjoys writing and photography.

© 2024 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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