A Prayer For Your Child

Although I'm child-less, I own a book called The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie O'Martian. 
My sister gave it to me because I have a special child in my life that I love deeply.
I've since bought one for a friend who recently had a baby that she loves deeply.
I want to share a prayer with you from the pages of this book.

I was praying this prayer today for my niece Ashlynn because she had a math quiz.  And as I was praying for her, faces of the students in my own class and former students I have taught began coming to my mind.  I thought of their parents, their praying parents who desire the best for them, and I decided I would email this prayer to them when I found time today at work.
 
But then my day actually began.  I took the book to work with me, and it never left my purse.  My day was an ordinary, hectic, run 100 kind of day.

But now I am home.  And the sun has gone down.  The TV is off.  The dishwasher is running with the supper dishes in tow, the buttons and brads on the wranglers are clinking in the dryer, and my mind is calm and clear of the day's tasks.

So now I share this prayer with all of you:
whether you are parents,
or grandparents,
or aunts,
or uncles,
or teachers,
or mentors
(at the risk of breaking copywrite laws and everything)
for the children you love.

Instilling the Desire to Learn:
Lord,

I pray that (name of child) will have a deep reverence for You and Your ways.  May she (he) hide Your Word in her heart like a treasure, and seek after understanding like silver or gold.  Give her (him) a good mind, a teachable spirit, and an ability to learn.  Instill in her (him) a desire to attain knowledge and skill, and may she (he) have joy in the process.  Above all, I pray that she (he) will be taught by You, for Your Word says that when our children are taught by You they are guaranteed peace.  You have also said, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction" (Proverbs 1:7).  May she (he) never be a fool and turn away from learning, but rather may she (he) turn to You for the knowledge she (he) needs.

I pray she (he) will respect the wisdom of her (his) parents and be willing to be taught by them.  May she (he) also have the desire to be taught by the teachers You bring into her (his) life.  Handpick each one, Lord, and may they be godly people from whom she (he) can easily learn.  Take out of her (his) life any teacher who would be an ungodly influence or create a bad learning experience.  Let her (him) find favor with her (his) teachers and have good communication with them.  Help her (him) to excel in school and do well in any classes she (he) may take.  Make the pathways of learning be smooth and not something with which she (he) must strain and struggle.  Connect everything in her (hisi) brain the way it is supposed to be so that she (he) has clarity of thought, organization, good memory, and strong learning ability. 

I say to her (him) according to Your Word, "Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge" (Proverbs 23:12).  "May the Lord give you understanding in all things" (2 Timothey 2:7).  Lord, enable her (him) to experience the joy of learning more about You and Your world.


Be Blessed,
Angel