A Prayer for Guidance to Raise Our Children
By Meg Bucher
“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” - John 14:26 NIV
Laughing and sprinting across the pavilion, kids whipped little foam balls in one direction as they curved to the other. In the middle of the chaos, one stood still.
“I can’t catch or throw.”
Many of us suffer from anxiety. Even those of us who do not deal with chronic anxiety are tempted to follow a trail of toxic thoughts down a rabbit hole. This is especially true for adults who raise children. But there is a power stronger than our discouragement or fears. When we feel helpless, it helps to remember we are not the Savior of any child.
The Holy Spirit comforts, counsels, and connects us to the Father. In Jesus’ physical absence, He is ever-present with us until Christ returns. We have authority over our thoughts and a power within us to choose grace, hope and joy no matter what trials we endure. We can pray these truths daily over the children we know and love, in hopes that they would be fully healed and feel the Spirit connecting, counseling, and encouragement for them.
Father,
Glory to You in the highest. You go providentially before us, and remain with us constantly. Translating for and counseling us, Holy Spirit, You are always on stand-by. Father, teach us more about who the person of the Holy Spirit is, and the work He does in our lives.
Paul wrote,
“The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Sprit.” (1 Corinthians 2:14 NIV)
Oh, that our eyes would be open to see Your glory, alive and active in our everyday lives. Help us to understand with better clarity how to pray in the power of the Holy Spirit. Soften our hearts and open our minds, Father, to see with Your heavenly perspective. Empower us to know how to specifically love the people You have placed in our lives, especially our children. You alone, are God. Bring the pieces of every puzzle together. Fill in the gaps of our humanity, and forgive us for the instances when a critical spirit overtook our conversation with our children. Help us to lead them to Your feet. Fill their lives with Your Spirit, God. With Your healing, wisdom, guidance, grace, joy, hope, mercy, forgiveness, and love.
God, You love our children more than we do, and have a purpose and a plan for each of their lives. Your ways are not our ways. Help us to let go when we need to, and assure our children of Your love for them. Strengthen our children in their faith, as they receive, embrace, and follow their Savior. Jesus said,
“But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” (John 16:7 NIV)
Guide our parenting, God. Let us lead our children to Your feet, knowing You care intimately for them, as You do for us. May the next generation serve Your Kingdom even more boldly than the last.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
Meg Bucher is a freelance writer and blogger at Sunny&80, is the author of “Friends with Everyone, Friendship within the Love of Christ,” “Surface, Unlocking the Gift of Sensitivity,” and “Glory Up, The Everyday Pursuit of Praise.” She writes about everyday life within the love of Christ. Meg earned a Marketing/PR degree from Ashland University, but stepped out of the business world to stay at home and raise her two daughters, which led her to pursue her passion to write. She has led a Bible Study for Women and serves as a volunteer Youth Ministry leader in her community. Meg, a Cleveland native and lifelong Browns fan, lives by the shore of Lake Erie in Northern Ohio with her husband, two daughters and golden doodle.
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Originally published Tuesday, 19 October 2021.
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