🤺Protect Our Little Ones Jesus, Lk 17:2 Matt 18:10 Know Holy Scriptures from Their Youth 2 Tim 3:15 Your Love 1 Jn 4:10 Angelic Protection Ps 91:11

[Chrysostom]

We join you in thanking God for Christ our Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep and who gathers His lambs in His arms. Your prayer for the little ones is precious in His sight, for the Lord Himself has said that their angels always behold the face of the Father and has warned against causing any of them to stumble.

We pray with you that these children, your own youngster and his cousins, the nieces and nephews and friends, and all the children among the flock of God, would know the Holy Scriptures from their youth which are able to make them wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. May the Lord write His fear and His love within them from their earliest years, for when that guard is seated within the heart, He protects them better than any outward wall, and that protection is not easily broken.

We ask the Lord to give His angels charge over them and over those who care for them, parents and grandparents, uncles and aunts and babysitters, and all mothers and fathers who stand guard against evil and against wolves who would distort the truth. We pray that He would keep their eyes and ears and minds from evil, that He would deliver them from every evil work and from the one who seeks to devour, and that He would supply what is good by making them sons and daughters through Christ and filling them with His Spirit.

We pray also that the Lord would feed these little ones through shepherds after His own heart with wisdom and knowledge, that they would grow not as children in understanding but be babes in malice and mature in mind, and that the love of God would be shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Spirit so that they may know the breadth and depth of His love.

We submit ourselves to God and ask for the armor of God to be upon this whole household and upon the church, that you may stand firm, resist the enemy, and see him flee, trusting that Christ has all authority in heaven and on earth and that the church built upon Him will prevail. May He work all things together for good according to the counsel of His will and for the furtherance of the gospel, and may He grant rest to the weary who come to Him, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

We thank Him in advance for His care, and we ask all this in the name of Jesus, our Shepherd and King, Amen.

 

[Silas]

Your prayer for the little ones reflects the heart of God Himself, who shows His care for children throughout Scripture. Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep, and He said that the angels of these little ones always see the face of the Father in heaven. He promised to stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord, so that His people may dwell securely. It is right to cast all your cares on Him, because He truly cares for you and for every child and family member you have named.

God has also given us clear and loving instruction for how to guard those entrusted to us. Scripture calls the wise person to see evil coming and to hide himself, while the simple keep going and suffer for it. That hiding place is the provision God has made through Jesus Christ. To train a child in the way he should go includes teaching him to know the Holy Scriptures from his youth, as Timothy did, so that he is made wise for salvation through faith in Christ. It also means teaching him to fear the Lord and to depart from evil, which brings health and steadiness to life.

This calls for practical separation from what harms. The Word tells us not to enter the path of evil people, to avoid it, to turn from it and pass on. Those who walk in darkness leave the straight paths and speak perverse things, and they find no rest unless they have caused others to stumble. We are told to put away perverse speech, to let our eyes look straight ahead, to ponder the path of our feet and to remove our feet from evil, and to keep our way far from temptation and not even come near its door. In the same way we are warned not to share the bread of a person whose heart is set on evil, for his thoughts are not for our good.

You are right to ask for angelic protection, for God does give His angels charge over His people and He camps around those who fear Him. At the same time we do not need to fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong, for the Lord sees and He will cut off the work of the wicked in His time. History in Scripture shows how seriously God takes harm done to the innocent. When a people practiced the abomination of causing their children to pass through the fire, God sought to protect the innocent from being destroyed by that practice. When open wickedness like that at Gibeah was tolerated, God called His people to put away evil from among them. He is still the Judge who will not let those who prey on children go unanswered, and He is the Shepherd who comforts with His rod and staff.

So continue to pray and to walk in this wisdom. Keep your children and those you love hidden in Christ, feed them daily on the knowledge and truth of the Word, guard what their eyes see and what their mouths speak, and keep their steps on an established path. Shepherd the flock God has placed among you with prayer, with the armor of God, and with steady trust that He is working all things together for good according to the counsel of His will.

We join you in prayer now. Father, we thank You for Jesus our Shepherd. We ask in His name that You would keep these little ones, their cousins and friends, parents and grandparents, and all who care for them, under the shadow of Your wings. Let Your angels keep watch over them, let Your Holy Spirit shed Your love abroad in their hearts, and let them grow in wisdom and in the knowledge of Your Word. Keep their minds and bodies from the evil one and from evil people, heal any who have been hurt, and draw every weary heart to find rest in Christ. Strengthen mothers and fathers and all who stand guard over this generation to walk uprightly, to turn quickly from every form of evil, and to trust You without fear. We ask this in the authority and name of Jesus, who alone saves, Amen.