God's Purpose for Family - Parenting

Parenting Prayer – April 2020 Parenting is no easy feat. With it, comes challenging days of toddler meltdowns in the grocery store, trying to keep everything in order when your children get sick, or the kids arguing when you’re struggling to get them to school on time. In the middle of the chaos, it’s important to take a moment to breathe, and know you are not alone and that God is with you. He is always present on the good and bad days to guide you through the trials and tribulations of parenthood. In all churches there are many examples of difficult relationships between parents and their children and these can be heartbreaking. Having an estranged family member, whether it be a sibling, child, parent or someone in your extended family, comes with stress and frustration. God wants us to look past these negative feelings and turn to him in our time of need. It does not matter whose fault the broken relationship is, what stage of grief you are in, or if you plan to reconnect. God wants us to be open and communicate our feelings and anxiety with him – God will listen! Here are two verses for reflection on overwhelming parenting days: Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV) / Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. James 1:2-4 (NIV) / Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Let us Pray Lord, help us to seek You –and Your purposes – above any other pursuit in life. We can easily be distracted by the temporary but keep us all in BCBC focused on the eternal. Help us to not just talk of a relationship with You but truly live it in each of our daily priorities and actions. Although there are things we may want for our family, that we can tend to stress about, You are aware of them all, and Your Word promises that when we put You first, You will take care of everything else, according to what You know is best for us. Help us to truly believe that and live by it so our children will place their confidence in You, as well. Lord, help us to be thankful in all circumstances, not just the ones that are comfortable and enjoyable. Help us to especially be thankful in the difficult situations so our children see us as people full of praise, not self pity. Whenever we praise You, it changes our perspective and focuses us on the good things You are doing in the midst of the troubles. Help all of our children see that. Make us all thankful people, people of praise in every circumstance. Lord, help us not to worry about anything, but to instead, and immediately, pray about everything that concerns us about our children and anything else As we all leave here today and display that peace, our children will see that we really do trust You with everything and our faith is not just a “talk” but a real-life walk. Lord, show us our value and worth in You, not in what we accomplish or what our children accomplish. Don’t let any one of us put undue pressure on our children to perform because of our own lack of skills, or opportunities. Help us not to overwhelm our children with unrealistic expectations.  Help us to support who they are as individuals, and be confident that we answer to You alone in how we parent them and You are waiting to partner with us to help us be the best parent we can be. Keep us from dumping our adult problems on them, while helping us be transparent enough for them to learn from our mistakes.  Above all – let our children know and experience unconditional love. Father for those of us with older teenagers and adult children, We ask that you work in their hearts. We know that you want everyone to come to repentance and not perish. We ask that you protect our teenagers and adult children from harm. Father, praise you that although we are blind to your plans, we trust your good and perfect ways. Heavenly Father, for some of us here today and in our Blayney community there have been relationship breakdowns with our children….they are missed dearly in many parents lives. We pray for guidance and courage to say the right things. Father, I know you want families to be together and to show each other love, support and positivity As we close our prayer for Parents and parenting May our children come to know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. May your Holy Spirit help them to grow in faith, hope, and love, so they may know peace, truth, and goodness. May they hear your voice. May they see your presence in all things. May they proclaim your word. May their hearts be your dwelling place. May they walk in the way of Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord. Amen.