Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer for the little ones reflects the heart of God Himself. He notices every child, He values every life, and Jesus made it clear that their angels always see the face of the Father and that no one should cause one of these little ones to stumble. It is right and good to bring them before the Lord continually and to ask Him to be their Shepherd.
I join you in asking the Lord Jesus, our Good Shepherd, to stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord, to carry the lambs close to His heart, to feed and comfort them, and to keep them secure. I pray Psalm 91 over your youngster, his cousins, the nieces and nephews, friends, parents, babysitters, and all the children among fellow believers, that God would give His angels charge over them and that the angel of the Lord would encamp around those who fear Him. May the Lord keep their eyes and ears from evil, guard their minds and bodies from the evil one, and clothe them with the armor of God so they can stand in spiritual battle.
A central part of that protection is teaching them to know the Holy Scriptures from their youth. The Scriptures are able to make them wise for salvation through faith in Christ and to show them the love of God poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The greatest joy for any parent or teacher is to see children walk in truth, following what is good rather than what is evil, because the one who does good shows he belongs to God.
That is why we also pray that they will learn the fear of the Lord, which is to hate evil. Wisdom begins with hating what God hates and turning away from it, and that turning brings health and stability. Evil always asks to be tolerated and to be compromised with, but we are not to give it a place. We are to depart from it and to honor the Lord with our lives. We must also be careful not to justify evil or to excuse it by saying God made us this way. Evil cannot be justified, and we are to have no fellowship with it.
Part of guarding them is discernment about influences. Scripture warns not to share intimately in the ways of a person whose mind is set on evil, whose eye is toward evil things. Jesus said if the eye is evil the whole life is darkened. So we pray for wisdom to watch over what they see and hear, what teachings they receive, and what company they keep, and to stay away from deceitful things that look attractive but lead away from the Lord. We do not need to fret or envy those who do evil, for their way will be cut off, but we can trust God to work all things together for good according to His will and for the furtherance of the gospel.
God designed the family to be a place of security and stability, a strong, happy, loving home where children can grow. That design is good and protective for them, and when society departs from it, it begins to disintegrate. History shows this pattern again and again. When people forgot the Lord and followed other gods, even to the point of pagan worship that involved the sacrifice of children and open sexual immorality, they brought great harm on themselves and their sons and daughters. Yet whenever they cried out to the Lord, He raised up a deliverer. In the same way, when a culture begins to boast about evil and to call good evil and evil good, and when laws are made to protect what is evil and punish what is good, we must not be drawn in, even if that evil is strangely attractive. We are to remain faithful, to submit to God, to resist the devil so he will flee, and to stand in the authority Jesus has given His church, which will prevail against the gates of hell.
So I thank God for mothers and fathers and all who stand guard over the young ones, watching for wolves, even when those wolves may appear as religious leaders. I pray for healing for any youth who has been hurt, for strength for brothers and sisters who are interceding at a distance, and for power through the Holy Spirit for all of you to know the breadth and depth of the love of Christ. May the Lord bind the work of the enemy, draw the weary and heavy laden to find rest in Jesus whose yoke is easy, and draw every child and every family member to know Him more deeply.
Father, we cast all our cares on You because You care for us. Shepherd these little ones and their families with Your rod and staff, comfort them, keep them from fear, feed them with wisdom and knowledge through a shepherd after Your own heart, and cause Your love to be shed abroad in their hearts. We ask this in the name of Jesus, Amen.
I join you in asking the Lord Jesus, our Good Shepherd, to stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord, to carry the lambs close to His heart, to feed and comfort them, and to keep them secure. I pray Psalm 91 over your youngster, his cousins, the nieces and nephews, friends, parents, babysitters, and all the children among fellow believers, that God would give His angels charge over them and that the angel of the Lord would encamp around those who fear Him. May the Lord keep their eyes and ears from evil, guard their minds and bodies from the evil one, and clothe them with the armor of God so they can stand in spiritual battle.
A central part of that protection is teaching them to know the Holy Scriptures from their youth. The Scriptures are able to make them wise for salvation through faith in Christ and to show them the love of God poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The greatest joy for any parent or teacher is to see children walk in truth, following what is good rather than what is evil, because the one who does good shows he belongs to God.
That is why we also pray that they will learn the fear of the Lord, which is to hate evil. Wisdom begins with hating what God hates and turning away from it, and that turning brings health and stability. Evil always asks to be tolerated and to be compromised with, but we are not to give it a place. We are to depart from it and to honor the Lord with our lives. We must also be careful not to justify evil or to excuse it by saying God made us this way. Evil cannot be justified, and we are to have no fellowship with it.
Part of guarding them is discernment about influences. Scripture warns not to share intimately in the ways of a person whose mind is set on evil, whose eye is toward evil things. Jesus said if the eye is evil the whole life is darkened. So we pray for wisdom to watch over what they see and hear, what teachings they receive, and what company they keep, and to stay away from deceitful things that look attractive but lead away from the Lord. We do not need to fret or envy those who do evil, for their way will be cut off, but we can trust God to work all things together for good according to His will and for the furtherance of the gospel.
God designed the family to be a place of security and stability, a strong, happy, loving home where children can grow. That design is good and protective for them, and when society departs from it, it begins to disintegrate. History shows this pattern again and again. When people forgot the Lord and followed other gods, even to the point of pagan worship that involved the sacrifice of children and open sexual immorality, they brought great harm on themselves and their sons and daughters. Yet whenever they cried out to the Lord, He raised up a deliverer. In the same way, when a culture begins to boast about evil and to call good evil and evil good, and when laws are made to protect what is evil and punish what is good, we must not be drawn in, even if that evil is strangely attractive. We are to remain faithful, to submit to God, to resist the devil so he will flee, and to stand in the authority Jesus has given His church, which will prevail against the gates of hell.
So I thank God for mothers and fathers and all who stand guard over the young ones, watching for wolves, even when those wolves may appear as religious leaders. I pray for healing for any youth who has been hurt, for strength for brothers and sisters who are interceding at a distance, and for power through the Holy Spirit for all of you to know the breadth and depth of the love of Christ. May the Lord bind the work of the enemy, draw the weary and heavy laden to find rest in Jesus whose yoke is easy, and draw every child and every family member to know Him more deeply.
Father, we cast all our cares on You because You care for us. Shepherd these little ones and their families with Your rod and staff, comfort them, keep them from fear, feed them with wisdom and knowledge through a shepherd after Your own heart, and cause Your love to be shed abroad in their hearts. We ask this in the name of Jesus, Amen.
