What an honor and privilege it is to meet with families in our community and share life with them! The past few months have been wonderful getting together with many of the families of Emmaus. I am thankful for your transparency and willingness to open up about what your hopes and dreams are for your children’s spiritual development and what you would like to pass onto them in their journeys with Jesus.
What I have seen during this time is a genuine heart in each one of you to nurture your children in a loving relationship with their heavenly Father, so that Jesus will become alive and present in every aspect of their lives. I welcome your questions, concerns, prayer & practical needs.
I look forward to getting together with all of you during the next few months as we share life together.
During our time together a chord has resonated throughout most of our conversations – many of you are looking for practical, hands on ways to instill a loving, living legacy of Christ to your children. A generational faith that will be alive and continue to grow as your children have their own children and pass their faith in Christ along.
Hopefully this blog will give you ideas that will be helpful to you in instilling God’s wisdom, love and truth to your children in practical ways.
Each night after having devotions (in a future blog I’ll share some of the devotional tools I have found helpful) with my children, they pray for their day following the simple model of:
Thank God – for who He is, what He has done & what He will do!
Ask God for forgiveness – this is where your children become mindful of areas that they need to grow in & confess their sin to God.
Listen to God – this can be started in small increments of time, followed
by questions. Allowing your children to have space and time to listen to the
Holy Spirit is so important in their spiritual growth & greatly enriches
their prayer life.
Seek God – on behalf of others & themselves. Praying for specific things in their lives.
Each night I pray over each child individually. I lay my hands on them and pray for specific areas that they are growing in, their future mates, whatever is currently going on in their lives and also Psalm 91, which is a powerful Psalm of protection and blessing. Feel free to substitute she for he for your daughters, or even insert your child’s name to make the scripture even more alive and powerful. I have prayed this over the phone for my children in college when I have my weekly check-in time.
Psalm 91
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation
Source: New feed