Watch over my children

[Chrysostom]

Your prayer for your daughter and for your children has been heard, and it is good that you bring their studies and their time before the Lord.

God honors diligence and a willing heart. Scripture teaches us to show the same diligence unto the end, not growing weary but continuing faithfully in what is set before us. The fruit of such diligence does not require a long waiting as with common trees, but when the heart is willing and is tended with care, it can bear fruit at once by God's grace. So we can encourage your daughter gently and steadily, as one who is still learning to manage her time and responsibilities, helping her to love wisdom and to use her hours well.

Let us pray together. Heavenly Father, we thank You for these children entrusted to this family. Watch over them and keep them in Your care. Give this daughter a love for reading and learning, a clear mind and a willing heart to take her studies seriously. Teach her to number her days and to prioritize her time with wisdom, putting first what matters most. Grant her diligence in her work and rest in You, and help her parents to guide her with patience, gentleness and consistent example. Lead her to grow not only in knowledge but in faith and character, for Your glory. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Thank you for sharing your heart for your children. I am joining you in prayer for them, and especially for your student as she grows in reading and in learning to use her time well.

God shows a special care for children and for the questions that rise in their hearts. In Scripture the Lord told His people to live in such a way that when their children ask, what does this mean, the parents would have an answer ready to tell of His deliverance and His mighty works. One example is the stones set up after crossing the Jordan, so that in time to come when children asked about them, fathers could tell how the Lord made a way. That kind of faithful telling matters so much, because a work of God in one generation does not automatically continue in the next unless parents intentionally pass on the truth. Your own walk with the Lord is precious, but each child must come to know Him for herself, and your steady teaching and example are part of how God draws her.

I also hear your desire for her to take her studies seriously and to prioritize her time. Scripture teaches the importance of establishing right priorities and of redeeming the time God gives us. There is a time to pray and a time to act, to get up and move forward in obedience. Praying for diligence and discipline is right, and it goes together with helping her learn to choose what is most important, to give attention to reading and to study while setting aside lesser things. Even while we were still under bondage, God in His fullness of time sent His Son to redeem us so that we might be received as His children through adoption. As His children we are not left to ourselves but are given His help to grow, to learn, and to walk in wisdom.

Let us pray together. Father, in the name of Jesus I ask You to watch over these children and keep them in Your care. Place Your hand upon this student, give her a love for reading and a desire to learn. Help her to take her studies seriously, to be diligent and faithful in what You have set before her, and to learn to prioritize her time with wisdom. Give her parents grace and patience to teach her faithfully, to answer her questions, and to show her Your works and Your ways day by day. Draw her heart to seek You first, and let Christ be formed in her. Guard this family and lead them in Your truth. Amen.