04. Janet Hsu

Psalm 127:3

“Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.”

Lately, I have been convicted to be a diligent prayerful parent. This verse confirms that we, as parents are to treat our children as gifts from the Lord. One way to treat them as such, is to pray for them. Being a primary teacher, I come across many children each day. I’ve sometimes wondered how many of my students have the benefit of having parents who pray for them on a consistent basis. I would guess that most of them don’t since most are not believers. Even as believers, we get so busy with work or other things in our lives that prayer sometimes falls on the “to-do” list. I am guilty of that when life gets chaotic and keeps me from having a time of prayer with the Lord. As Sung stated in one of his sermons, “if you are too busy…you’re just too busy.” You have to make it a priority to pray for your child and to pray for other children. If you have enough time to read, surf the net, check email or watch tv, you have enough time to pray. Aren’t children our most precious gift? It is a choice that we need to make in order to have a quiet time of prayer, especially for our children. Of course we need to pray for the big things like their salvation, health and safety. We also need to pray for the day-to-day things that happen in their daily lives. We need to pray that they will make good friends who will influence them in good ways. We also need to pray that our children will be obedient to those who have authority over them. Pray that they will make good choices in their day-to-day lives since we are not with them every minute of the day. It is also important to pray for their future as it is important to pray for the present. It is not enough just to pray for them, but to pray with them so that they can draw nearer to the Lord and establish a relationship with God. In the world in which we live today, wouldn’t you want to protect and armour your child with prayer? Children are given to us by the Lord, so it is our duty or assignment to pray for them. It is easy to love your child, but a true gift to your child would be for you to pray on their behalf.