🤺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]

Your prayer for the little ones is good and according to the will of God, and we join you in lifting them before the Lord Jesus, our Good Shepherd.

We thank God that He has shown such care for children, for the Lord Himself said that their angels always see the face of the Father in heaven, and that it would be better for a millstone to be hung around a man's neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to stumble. We ask the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, by whom alone we are saved, to set His protection over each child you have named, over their cousins and friends, over the whole household and all the children of the church, and to give His angels charge over them to keep them in all their ways.

We also pray that God will do what is most needful for their souls. The Scriptures teach us to bring children up from their first youth in the fear of the Lord, for when that guard is seated within, He will protect them better than any father or mother can, and it will be a wall not to be broken. As it is written, Come, you children, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. So we pray that these little ones may know the Holy Scriptures from their youth, which are able to make them wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus, that the love of God may be poured into their hearts by the Holy Spirit, and that they may grow in wisdom and knowledge and in the strength of the Lord.

We live in evil times, not because the days themselves are evil, but because many evils are done in them by men who give themselves over to the ruler of this darkness. Therefore we pray that God would keep these children from evil people and imposters, from warped wolves even if they appear as teachers, and from every snare of the devil. We submit ourselves to God and resist the enemy, trusting the promise that he will flee, and we ask that God would clothe these children and all who care for them with the armor of God, to keep their eyes and ears from evil and to keep their bodies and minds from the evil one.

We ask the Lord to comfort and feed them as a shepherd feeds his flock, to carry them close to His heart, to give wisdom to parents and to mothers and fathers in the faith who stand guard, and to heal any child who has been hurt. We pray that He would draw near to the weary and heavy laden among you and give rest, and that He would work all things together for good and for the furtherance of the gospel, according to the counsel of His will.

We thank Him in advance, trusting His power and His care, and we ask all this in the mighty name of Jesus, who shepherds His flock in the strength of the Lord and whose greatness reaches to the ends of the earth. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Your prayer for the little ones reflects the heart of Jesus himself, who warned that it would be better for a millstone to be hung around a person than to cause one of these little ones to stumble, and who said their angels always see the face of the Father. That shows how precious children are to him and how seriously he takes their protection.

We join you in thanking God for Christ the good shepherd. He lays down his life for the sheep, he knows his sheep and they know his voice, and he stands to shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord. Like a shepherd he gathers lambs in his arms and carries them close, he leads and feeds and comforts with his rod and staff so that fear is driven away. That is the security you are asking for, not only for your own child but for cousins, nieces and nephews, friends and extended family, and for all the children among believers who are standing together in spiritual battle.

Scripture teaches that children are a heritage from the Lord, and that they are to know the holy Scriptures from their youth, which are able to make them wise for salvation through faith in Christ. Part of loving them well is training them in that wisdom and knowledge, so they learn to know the love of God that is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit and to grasp its breadth and depth. Your desire for them to be fed in this way is exactly what God desires.

There is also a wise foresight that Scripture calls prudent. The prudent person sees the evil ahead and takes refuge, while the simple go on and suffer harm. For us that refuge is the provision God has made through Jesus Christ, hiding in him from judgment and from the power of sin. For your children this means teaching them to depart from evil and to honor the Lord, which brings health and stability to their lives. It means helping them recognize the way of the evil person, the one whose mind is set on perverse things and who leaves the straight path to walk in darkness. That kind of evil is not a superstition or a hex to be warded off, it is a real moral corruption in the heart.

Therefore the counsel of Scripture is very practical. Do not go in the way of evil people. Avoid it, do not pass by it, turn from it and run. Put perverse speech far away, let your eyes look straight ahead, ponder the path of your feet and remove your foot from evil. Do not even go near the door that leads to temptation. This includes not sharing close fellowship or receiving influence from those who are evil in their ways, even if they appear as teachers or leaders, and it includes guarding the eyes and ears and minds of children from what is evil. In ancient times God judged nations that harmed and even sacrificed their children, because he seeks to protect the innocent from practices that destroy them. He still calls his people to keep children from those who would act like wolves among the flock.

It is understandable to feel anxious when you see evil around the young ones, especially when you are praying at a distance for their safety. Scripture says not to fret because of evil men or to envy the wicked, for there is no lasting reward for the evil person and they will be cut off. God sees and he will act according to his will, working all things together for good for those who love him and for the furtherance of the gospel. Our part is to submit to God, resist the devil, and trust that he will flee, putting on the armor God provides and standing firm in the authority Jesus has as he builds his church which the gates of hell will not overcome.

We pray with you now that the Father would give his angels charge over each child you have named and over the whole household of faith, that the angel of the Lord would encamp around those who fear him, that each child would be kept from the evil one and from evil people, and that any who have been hurt would be healed and strengthened. We ask that God would shed his love abroad in their hearts by the Holy Spirit, strengthen them with power in their inner being, and keep their hearts and bodies in Christ. We cast all our cares on him because he cares for us, and we thank him in advance for hearing us through Jesus our shepherd, in whose name we pray, amen.