We Ought To Pray For Our Children Series

We Ought to be Praying for our Children

Introduction

In the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 11, Jesus says about John the Baptist “among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist.” Wow, what a compliment from Jesus to John the Baptist.

Now think about John the Baptist’s parents. Suppose word of that compliment that got back to them. And suppose that his grandparents are still living, and they too heard about the compliment given by Jesus to their grandson. I believe that both his parents and his grandparents would have great joy in their heart for the man that John the Baptist turned out to be.

Listen to me, I believe that a son or a daughter can either bring a great amount of joy to his or her parents and family, or a son or a daughter can bring a great amount of pain to his or her parents and family.

And as parents and grandparents, aunts, and uncles and those who love that child. you have something to do with how that child turns out. You have a prayer responsibility to that child.

Well, I pray for him or her when he or she is sick. I pray for the child when he or she has something going on in their life. That is great, but that is not enough. Today, it is going to take an angel to teach us how to pray for our children.

So, if you have your Bibles turn to Luke 1:11-16 and let look at the blessing the angel gave Zechariah concerning his son. And I believe that blessing should be the daily prayer request for our children. Please stand for the reading of God’s Word.

Scripture

Luke 1:11–16 (NKJV)

11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.

Point 1

As parents or one who loves that child our prayer ought to be that he or she not only bring me joy in their youth but they also bring me joy in all phases of their life.

Luke 1:14 (NKJV)

14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.

Think about it. There is great joy when a couple finds out they are pregnant. They is great joy when they get that first sonogram and the doctor reports that the baby is healthy. There is great joy the day of the child’s birth. There is great joy when the child says the cutest things or does the cutest things as they are growing up.

But for some parents, the teenage years of the child are tough, and you begin to lose that joy. And then when the child is grown instead of going the right way in life, they take the wrong path and it brings you as the parents' heartache.

The angel said to Zacharias that you will have joy and gladness and the angel did not limit it to when John the Baptist was a child. He was to have joy and gladness all his life.

And that is what our prayer needs to be for our children. We need to pray that my child, or the child I love brings me joy and gladness all the days of my life. That should be a daily prayer of someone who has children.

Point 2

As parents or one who loves that child our prayer ought to be that he or she will stay clear of those things that will cause them to fall into temptation and fall off course in their life.

Luke 1:15 (NKJV)

15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink...

What I know about this world, the moment you know that you are pregnant is a good time to begin praying that your child does not fall to the temptations that Satan puts out there.

Satan certainly puts drugs and alcohol out there for your children. According to National Center of Drug Abuse Statistics Sixty two (62) percent of teenagers have abused alcohol. By the time your child is in 12th grade, 46.6% of teens have tried illicit drugs.