Silas
Beloved of All
Your burden for the little ones is precious to the Lord and we join you in lifting them to Jesus, our Good Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep and who knows His own and is known by them.
Scripture is so clear about how God sees children. Jesus said their angels always behold the face of the Father, and He warned that it would be better for a millstone to be hung around a person's neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. That shows the high value He places on them. We also join you in praying that they would know the Holy Scriptures from their youth, for the Scriptures are able to make them wise for salvation through faith in Christ, and that they would know deeply the love of God, that He loved us first and poured His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
We pray with you for the protection you asked for, for your youngster, his cousins, nieces and nephews, friends, parents, aunts and uncles and babysitters, and for all the children among fellow believers. We ask the Lord to give His angels charge over them, for He has promised that His angels encamp around those who fear Him and that they are ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation. We ask Him to shepherd them as only He can, to carry them close to His heart, to lead them gently, to comfort them with His rod and His staff so fear is driven away, and to feed them with wisdom and knowledge through shepherds after His own heart who will care for the flock of God with diligence.
Part of that protection is learning what Scripture teaches about evil. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, and that hatred of evil is the beginning of wisdom. Evil always seeks to be tolerated and asks for compromise, but God hates evil and calls His people to depart from it, which brings health and wholeness. In its proper place within God's design, the family is not evil at all. God designed marriage and the home to give children security and stability in a strong, happy and loving family, and that stability is His gracious plan to hold society together.
We also need to be on guard against justifying evil. One of the weakest justifications is to say God made me this way, but evil cannot be justified. Throughout the history of Israel, the people repeatedly did evil in the sight of the Lord and forgot Him to follow other gods, and that led to bondage and sorrow until they cried out to Him. The soul of the wicked desires evil, and Scripture warns not to share the bread of one who has an eye toward evil. That does not mean a superstitious hex, it means a person whose mind and desires are set on evil things. We are not to envy evil people or fret because of them, for they will be cut off, and we are not to follow what is evil but what is good. In times when a society even boasts about its evil and calls good evil and evil good, and when laws are twisted to protect what is wrong, we must still choose the good and teach our children to do the same.
This is especially urgent for children. In ancient times the pagan worship around Israel involved the sacrifice of children to gods like Molech and Baal, a horror that shows how deeply God hates the harming of little ones. That same hatred of evil should mark us now as we guard the young from wolves, from evil and deceptive people, even when such people claim to be ministers. We pray for mothers and fathers who stand watch, and for healing for any young person who has been hurt, that God would strengthen them by His Spirit to comprehend the breadth and depth of His love.
So we submit ourselves to God and resist the enemy, trusting the promise that he will flee. We pray the armor of God over these children, that their eyes, ears, minds and bodies would be kept from the evil one and from evil people. We ask that any wicked influence would be bound by the authority Jesus has as the risen King to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been given, and that He would simply speak the word to bring deliverance in His perfect time. For those who are weary and heavy laden we ask that He would draw them to Himself and give them rest, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
We trust Him to work all things together for good according to the counsel of His will and for the furtherance of the gospel, and we thank Him in advance for what He will do. We cast all our cares on Him because He cares for us and for our children, confident that the church He builds on the confession that He is the Messiah will prevail against the gates of hell. May the Lord stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of His name, so they may dwell securely, and may His greatness be known to the ends of the earth. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
Scripture is so clear about how God sees children. Jesus said their angels always behold the face of the Father, and He warned that it would be better for a millstone to be hung around a person's neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. That shows the high value He places on them. We also join you in praying that they would know the Holy Scriptures from their youth, for the Scriptures are able to make them wise for salvation through faith in Christ, and that they would know deeply the love of God, that He loved us first and poured His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
We pray with you for the protection you asked for, for your youngster, his cousins, nieces and nephews, friends, parents, aunts and uncles and babysitters, and for all the children among fellow believers. We ask the Lord to give His angels charge over them, for He has promised that His angels encamp around those who fear Him and that they are ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation. We ask Him to shepherd them as only He can, to carry them close to His heart, to lead them gently, to comfort them with His rod and His staff so fear is driven away, and to feed them with wisdom and knowledge through shepherds after His own heart who will care for the flock of God with diligence.
Part of that protection is learning what Scripture teaches about evil. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, and that hatred of evil is the beginning of wisdom. Evil always seeks to be tolerated and asks for compromise, but God hates evil and calls His people to depart from it, which brings health and wholeness. In its proper place within God's design, the family is not evil at all. God designed marriage and the home to give children security and stability in a strong, happy and loving family, and that stability is His gracious plan to hold society together.
We also need to be on guard against justifying evil. One of the weakest justifications is to say God made me this way, but evil cannot be justified. Throughout the history of Israel, the people repeatedly did evil in the sight of the Lord and forgot Him to follow other gods, and that led to bondage and sorrow until they cried out to Him. The soul of the wicked desires evil, and Scripture warns not to share the bread of one who has an eye toward evil. That does not mean a superstitious hex, it means a person whose mind and desires are set on evil things. We are not to envy evil people or fret because of them, for they will be cut off, and we are not to follow what is evil but what is good. In times when a society even boasts about its evil and calls good evil and evil good, and when laws are twisted to protect what is wrong, we must still choose the good and teach our children to do the same.
This is especially urgent for children. In ancient times the pagan worship around Israel involved the sacrifice of children to gods like Molech and Baal, a horror that shows how deeply God hates the harming of little ones. That same hatred of evil should mark us now as we guard the young from wolves, from evil and deceptive people, even when such people claim to be ministers. We pray for mothers and fathers who stand watch, and for healing for any young person who has been hurt, that God would strengthen them by His Spirit to comprehend the breadth and depth of His love.
So we submit ourselves to God and resist the enemy, trusting the promise that he will flee. We pray the armor of God over these children, that their eyes, ears, minds and bodies would be kept from the evil one and from evil people. We ask that any wicked influence would be bound by the authority Jesus has as the risen King to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been given, and that He would simply speak the word to bring deliverance in His perfect time. For those who are weary and heavy laden we ask that He would draw them to Himself and give them rest, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
We trust Him to work all things together for good according to the counsel of His will and for the furtherance of the gospel, and we thank Him in advance for what He will do. We cast all our cares on Him because He cares for us and for our children, confident that the church He builds on the confession that He is the Messiah will prevail against the gates of hell. May the Lord stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of His name, so they may dwell securely, and may His greatness be known to the ends of the earth. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
