Silas
Beloved of All
Your love for these children and your desire to see them kept safe is precious to the Lord, and it is right to bring them before Him in prayer. Jesus Himself showed how much He values little ones, warning that it would be better for a millstone to be hung around the neck of anyone who causes one of them to stumble, and teaching that their angels always see the face of the Father in heaven. He is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep, who carries the lambs close to His heart and gently leads those who care for them, and who gives His angels charge to keep watch over His own.
Scripture teaches that the beginning of wisdom is the reverence of God, and to reverence Him is to hate evil. That truth is at the heart of your prayer. We live in a time that urges tolerance of almost everything, and our tolerance for evil has grown far too high. But God hates evil, and if we are to walk in fellowship with Him we must hate it as well. We cannot make peace with what harms the soul or compromise with what would wound a child and still walk closely with Him. To hate evil is not to hate people, but to refuse to accept, excuse, or invite into our homes and minds the things that God calls evil, and to turn away from them completely. That turning away, that departing from evil and choosing what is good, is part of how the Lord keeps His people in life and peace.
That is why your prayers for protection are so fitting. You are asking that the Lord would keep the eyes and ears and minds of these little ones from evil, that He would guard their bodies and hearts from the evil one and from those who would do them harm, whether that harm comes openly or through deceit. There are indeed those who have an eye toward evil, whose way is to draw others in, and Scripture warns not to share in their bread or desire what they offer. There are also those described as wolves who would come among the flock. It is right to ask the Lord to expose what is hidden, to bind the work of the enemy in the authority that belongs to Jesus, to heal any hurt that has already been done, and to place a hedge around each child, each cousin, each friend, each parent and caregiver, and all who gather with believers.
Continue to feed these little ones from the Scriptures from their youth, for the holy writings are able to make them wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Pray that the love of God would be poured out in their hearts by the Holy Spirit and that they would come to know in a deeper way the breadth and length and height and depth of His love. Pray that they would learn early to keep their tongues from evil and their lips from deceit, to depart from evil and do good, to seek peace and pursue it. As you teach them to reverence the Lord, you are laying the true foundation for knowledge and for a walk that tends toward life and satisfaction, kept from evil.
We join you in casting all your cares on Him because He cares for you and for every child you have named. We ask the Lord to shepherd His flock in His strength, to cause His people to dwell securely, to work all things together for good according to the counsel of His will and for the furtherance of the gospel, to draw the weary to find rest under His easy yoke, and to clothe each one in the armor of God so that you may stand as you submit to God and resist the devil, trusting that he must flee. The church that Jesus builds on the confession that He is the Messiah will prevail, and no gate of hell will overcome it.
May the Lord Himself comfort these little ones with His rod and staff, feed them with wisdom and knowledge through faithful shepherds after His own heart, strengthen the mothers and fathers who stand guard, and keep the whole flock in His care until He brings you all safely home. We thank Him in advance for hearing this prayer in the name of Jesus, who has all authority in heaven and on earth, Amen.
Scripture teaches that the beginning of wisdom is the reverence of God, and to reverence Him is to hate evil. That truth is at the heart of your prayer. We live in a time that urges tolerance of almost everything, and our tolerance for evil has grown far too high. But God hates evil, and if we are to walk in fellowship with Him we must hate it as well. We cannot make peace with what harms the soul or compromise with what would wound a child and still walk closely with Him. To hate evil is not to hate people, but to refuse to accept, excuse, or invite into our homes and minds the things that God calls evil, and to turn away from them completely. That turning away, that departing from evil and choosing what is good, is part of how the Lord keeps His people in life and peace.
That is why your prayers for protection are so fitting. You are asking that the Lord would keep the eyes and ears and minds of these little ones from evil, that He would guard their bodies and hearts from the evil one and from those who would do them harm, whether that harm comes openly or through deceit. There are indeed those who have an eye toward evil, whose way is to draw others in, and Scripture warns not to share in their bread or desire what they offer. There are also those described as wolves who would come among the flock. It is right to ask the Lord to expose what is hidden, to bind the work of the enemy in the authority that belongs to Jesus, to heal any hurt that has already been done, and to place a hedge around each child, each cousin, each friend, each parent and caregiver, and all who gather with believers.
Continue to feed these little ones from the Scriptures from their youth, for the holy writings are able to make them wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Pray that the love of God would be poured out in their hearts by the Holy Spirit and that they would come to know in a deeper way the breadth and length and height and depth of His love. Pray that they would learn early to keep their tongues from evil and their lips from deceit, to depart from evil and do good, to seek peace and pursue it. As you teach them to reverence the Lord, you are laying the true foundation for knowledge and for a walk that tends toward life and satisfaction, kept from evil.
We join you in casting all your cares on Him because He cares for you and for every child you have named. We ask the Lord to shepherd His flock in His strength, to cause His people to dwell securely, to work all things together for good according to the counsel of His will and for the furtherance of the gospel, to draw the weary to find rest under His easy yoke, and to clothe each one in the armor of God so that you may stand as you submit to God and resist the devil, trusting that he must flee. The church that Jesus builds on the confession that He is the Messiah will prevail, and no gate of hell will overcome it.
May the Lord Himself comfort these little ones with His rod and staff, feed them with wisdom and knowledge through faithful shepherds after His own heart, strengthen the mothers and fathers who stand guard, and keep the whole flock in His care until He brings you all safely home. We thank Him in advance for hearing this prayer in the name of Jesus, who has all authority in heaven and on earth, Amen.
