Prayer
When I pray for my children, I always pray for the spiritual, physical, and emotional well-being. While I want them to have good jobs and do well financially, I’ve always been more concerned that they grow into men who fear and honor God. That has been my constant prayer for them—that they will have a vibrant relationship with the Lord.
OK, praying a prayer is easy—something every parent does for their children. As important as it is, it pales in comparison to the prayer that I’ve lived for my children. You see, I don’t think prayer is just talking to God, I think it is the way we live before Him too. In 1 Peter 2:12 the King James Version begins with, “Having your conversation honest …” The New American Standard Bible translates the same verse, “Keep your behavior excellent …” There was a time in the English language when conversation and behavior meant the same thing. In current usage it doesn’t because we understand it is possible to say one thing while not living consistent with our speech.
That’s what I mean by the prayer I’ve lived for my children. While they don’t know what I pray in private for them, they do know the prayer I’ve lived before them.
I have not lived my life before them to be an example—but I know I have been an example. I hope they’ve noticed that haven’t just stuck my toe in the pool and went back to sun on the deck, but that I’ve jumped off the high diving board, and have followed Christ with reckless abandon. I hope they will remember my example and follow it.
But I also hope they haven’t noticed everything Because there has been more than one time where I’ve belly-flopped. So many times I’ve lost perspective and misaligned my priorities. I hope they don’t have such good memories about those times
I suppose there is plenty of evidence that I’ve been a good example and a bad one. Today when I prayed for my sons, I prayed God would bless them with a good memory. And a bad one. I would consider both a blessing of God.
Jim L. Wilson, Fresh Start Devotionals (Fresno, CA: Willow City Press, 2009).
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