Continual Prayer for Your Children

 There are times in our lives when we have to put our big boy pants on and walk through the unknown. One of those greatest times is when we have children. Each child comes with their own strengths and weaknesses, each child knows how to press your buttons, and each child will have at least one time in their lives that will make you as a parent fall to your knees, make you mad as hell, frustrated, and have a broken heart all at the same time.

The biggest question is what do we do as mothers during this time of raising our children. The first thing is not to blow up, the first thing is not to fall apart, the first thing is not to condemn. The first thing to do is pray. The second thing to do is to love that child. No matter the situation they have gotten themselves into, no matter the situation they got you or your entire family into. When we became mothers, we put ourselves on the sidelines because we have a greater responsibility now and that is to raise Godly children. The first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and the second is like it to love your neighbor as yourself. “Mark 12:30-31”

I sometimes ask my children who is the scariest person they know, and they all always answer “you mom”. Why? Because they know I mean business. They know I am taking everything including them to Jesus. They know that when I say time to do chores, it’s time to do chores. They know that when they do something to mess up, they know they are gonna have to answer to me. But they also know that if someone messes with them, doesn’t treat them right, breaks their heart, or makes them cry, they know I will defend them to the end. Even if in the end I am made to be a fool because I defended them and came to find out, they were actually in the wrong.

But what about the other stuff, you can’t just have fear in a relationship, it will always end up badly. No, you have to have a relationship that is not easily broken and that someone is not easily able to walk in between, and this is the kind of relationship that I have with my children. A relationship that they know they can come to me about anything and everything. No question and no situation is too funny or too uncomfortable for momma. Even when they want to take a deep dive into the birds and bees. Why? Because I would rather have them ask the embarrassing awkward weird questions and we look it up together, pray about it, and laugh about it then they go and try to find the answers out on their own from online, friends, etc.

But what about the times that your children find themselves in a situation that they believe they cannot come to you about and so they decide to go to their friends to find the answers and it makes the situation worse and eventually it all comes out and what they have gotten themselves into brings you literally to a breaking point. It makes you furiously angry, you are ready to kill their so-called friends, and you are ready to make your child pay for what they have done. The pain they have just caused you, you want them to feel 10 times more and that still isn’t enough in your mind. These times are definitely some of the most difficult but thankful they are not often amen? These are the times you find out what you as a mom are truly made of and full of. Are you full of Jesus or are you full of the world? Because what you are full of is how you are going to handle this situation. 

If you are full of the world, you could very possibly destroy your relationship with your child and destroy your child, but if you are full of Jesus, you’re gonna handle this situation differently because you understand the importance of the relationship with your child. You understand that what they have been keeping to themselves has little by little been killing them from the inside out and little by little pulling them further away from you. You understand that the anger and heartache you are feeling they have already been feeling, they have just been suffering in silence believing that they could never tell you because you wouldn’t love them anymore. But you know what, a person full of Jesus is gonna see that this is a turning point in you and your child’s life. How you handle this situation is gonna be a gateway to the future of your relationship with your child and is gonna pave the way to how your child sees themselves in the future. A person full of Jesus is going to understand that this situation is a battle for the soul. A battle that you and your child cannot handle on your own or at all. No, this is a battle that only Jesus can wage and win. 

In these situations our job as mothers is to love beyond everything. Your child’s darkest secrets have just been exposed and laid bare for all to see and your child doesn’t need an I told you so. What your child needs is a hug. What your child needs is an I love you. What your child needs is for you to move everything and everyone off and out of your bed and let them sleep in your arms. Are you as a mother screaming and dying on the inside, you bet you are, but in this moment it is more important that your child knows that you love them regardless, and when your child looks at you and says “you still love me even after what I have done”, you hold their face in your hands and say “you bet I do”. “There is nothing in this world or outside of this world that could ever cause me to stop loving you ever!” And once your child has finally calmed down and fallen asleep in your arms like they once did when they were little, then is the time to finally sneak out and break down if you need to and when you feel that anger finally starting to surface, you take that anger straight to Jesus and wage war standing in the gap for your child asking Jesus to wage a war against satan and his demons that have tried to take your child out and you pray in the name of Jesus Christ that He bind everything from your child that could be hurting them. You pray in the name of Jesus Christ that whatever so called friends have hurt your child would be exposed for what that are, have a repentant heart and turn to Jesus, or just somehow get out of your child’s life for good, pray that this situation be used for the honor and glory of Jesus Christ, and pray that this situation be a place in you and child’s life that you can look back on and be able to help others who are going through the same situation.

Once you have done all this, then is the time to sit down with your child and talk about the repercussions and disciplinary actions that are needed due to this situation. What satan had planned to destroy your child has only strengthened them, strengthened y’alls relationship, brought you and your child closer to Jesus, and is now a place that can be used to lead others to Jesus Christ when they are in their darkest moments.

In the end mothers always be ready and always be watching out for your children. Mothers always be praying for your children because this world is dark and is always waiting and willing to take out your child and leave them for dead once it is through with them. Mothers never take your relationship with your children for granted and always know that how you treat them is how they are going to treat their kids and how they are going to treat themselves and when all else fails, keep praying, keep loving, keep hoping, and keep believing, amen!