Praying for Emotional Well Being

June 2020

Have you ever sat back and thought, “How lucky are our kids that they are growing up in a Christian home”? Before they were even born we are praying for them. I feel as a Christian parent it is our responsibility to be pouring Christ’s love into our kids. It is a parenting technique that will work wonders for your family. 

As our girls grow up they will be seeking love, acceptance, and self worth. We need to constantly be telling them they can find all of those things in Christ. Them knowing this may help them from trying to find these things in sexual relationships or attaching their self worth on outward appearances. For boys, they may search for their acceptance and respect by becoming bullies, loners, or outcasts. I truly believe our children can find their self worth, love, acceptance, and identity in Christ. Knowing where to find all of these things in Christ will give them a healthy emotional well-being. 

Our kids need to know that they are precious in God’s sight not because of anything they do but because they belong to God. We should also be helping, praying, and asking God for our kids to know that they are fearfully and wonderfully made and that God sent His son to die on their behalf, and absolutely nothing can separate us from God’s love! 

Teaching and praying for our children to know and understand forgiveness will also encourage a healthy emotional well-being. When teaching our kids to forgive others when their feelings are hurt or physically hurt will help them not bottle up their anger and bitterness. It will set them free from anger and bitterness and lead them to contentment, peace, and Joy. When we are raising our children in a Christian home, we should be teaching them to love their enemies and bless those who don’t like them and pray for those people. Pray for your child to have a forgiving spirit and to always follow Luke 6:31, “And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.”

So what is the secret to teaching our children contentment and joy? I would say there are three things we need to instill into our children. They are (1) God is good, (2) He is in charge, and (3) that He loves us and wants what is best for us. Praying for our children to put their trust in God’s promises and to depend on God’s love will give them pure joy even when things do not go their way. 

Look at each child. Proverbs 27:19 says, “As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.” What do your children’s hearts look like? If you see negative habits forming or want to prevent them from beginning, start working on their self worth. Fill their minds with the knowledge that they are precious in God’s eyes and that they belong to God. Read, pray, and memorize Psalm 139. Read the book of Philippians. It is full of Christian joy and gives advice on how to fend off things that may steal your joy. And finally reaffirm your trust in God’s promises. John 15:10-11 says, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy  may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

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Here are some scripture based prayers you can use,

Heavenly Father....

Cause _____ to love her enemies, to do good to those who hate her, to bless those who curse her, to pray for those who mistreat her. Help _____ do to others as she would have them do to her. 

Luke 6:27-31

I pray that _____’s identity will be firmly rooted and established in Christ’s love, and that _____ may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that she may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 

Ephesians 3:17-19

Do not let _____ be enslaved by her emotions. Christ has set her free, so let her stand firm, refusing to let herself be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. 

Galatians 5:1

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Join us on Monday June 27th, at 7pm for the next Next Generations Prayer meeting.

For more scripture based prayers for this topic please email me amoll@harvestpittsburghnorth.org 

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Citation:

Berndt, Jodie. Praying the Scriptures for Your Children, Chapter 11. 2001

Life Application Bible, NIV

Praying For an Others-Centered Outlook

May 2020

When you look up self-centered in the dictionary, you will see the definition is a teenager. (I'm joking, that's not really the definition.) We all go through this stage as a teen where we are self-centered. Worrying only about ourselves. And even a lot of adults don’t seem to grow out of this stage. 

So how do we teach our teens to not constantly think of themselves? In the book The Spiritual Mentoring of Teens, the main objective is to teach your teen to put God first, others second, and themselves last. This is based off of Matthew 22:36-40. One way to help our teens develop a heart of service is to get them out of their comfort zone. Get them to look beyond their lives at high school and to see that the world is bigger. Missions trips to local areas that need help can be a start. Hopefully then, leading them to something bigger, like a mission trip to another country. 

This past February, I took my husband and 15 year old daughter on their first out of country missions trip. Watching their experience was one of the best experiences I got to have. Now that is all my 15 year old talks about. She has even put moving to the Dominican Republic and working in the villages as something she wants to do as an adult. Amazing huh?! 

Now the biggest thing I can do for my teen is to pray for wisdom and guidance in this dream she has. And to support her. She is actually focusing on something other than herself and wanting to help others. This trip has given her a sense of purpose. And it will do the same for your child. 

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On top of helping your teen getting involved with missions work, it is also important to pray for them to have an others-centered outlook. Some example Scripture based prayers from Jodie Berndt’s book Praying the Scriptures for Your Teenager are as follows: 

Heavenly Father…..

Let ________ put your first, others second, and herself third as she follows your commandments. May she love you with all of her heart, soul, and let her love others as much as she loves herself. 

                                    Matthew 22:37-39

I pray that _______ would be wise and understanding- and that the evidence of these traits would be seen in her good deeds, done in humility. Do not let her harbor bitter envy or selfish ambition in her heart, because those things come from the devil and lead to disorder and every evil practice. 

                                   James 3:13-16

I pray that in whatever ______ does, he would seek to bring you glory to you rather than to help myself. Let him never seek his own good but the good of many, as he follows the example. 

                               1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1 

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For more scripture based prayers for this topic please email me amoll@harvestpittsburghnorth.org 

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Citation:

Berndt, Jodie. Praying the Scriptures for Your Teenages, 2007 chapter 2 pg 32-42

Family Tips Tuesday Presents - Kids & Quarantine

This evening I held a zoom meeting to discuss kids and quarantine. I wanted to give parents encouragement and kids encouragement. I pointed them to scripture to where to get their strength from during this time. And even though it is hard, Christ came to serve and we are called to serve too and to do so with a joyful heart. So, while we are all stuck at home together let’s have a joyful heart as we serve our families during this time!

I also touch on the topic of how to talk to your kids about the coronavirus. This information is not just good for what is happening around us now, but with any hard discussion you may have to have in the future.

Lastly, I talk about possible separation anxiety that your kids may face once life goes back to “normal”. They have just spent how many weeks with you 24/7 and transition back to the “real world” may be hard.

There is no better time to be pouring into our children the love of God. And pointing them to scripture and prayer for relief from our anxieties of what is going on and what may happen.

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Praying For a Servant Heart

April 2020

Servant. Would you be offended if someone or one of your children called you a servant? Or would you take it as a compliment? In today’s world, people strive for control and are eager to be first. Our culture doesn’t always reward people who are being selfless. Which may make you question, “why would I want my child to have a servant heart, I want my child to be on top!” But looking at it biblically, we see that Jesus came to serve! And he told the disciple, “whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave - Just as the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many”. Matthew 20:26-28. 

So when you begin to pray for your child to have a servant heart, you are praying for them to be more like Jesus. Someone once said a servant's heart will get excited about making someone else successful. Do you encourage your kids to do that? In John 15:12-13, Jesus says, “Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” God sees all of our little acts of service! Holding the door for someone, letting a sibling go first, or sharing a toy or getting something for someone when they ask. And let’s face it, older siblings ask younger siblings to get things for them all the time. Do you intervene and tell your younger child not to do it or do you allow the younger sibling to go and happily get whatever their big sister or brother wants?

Reading this chapter, Praying for Your Child to have a Servant Heart, made me look at things different. My oldest child is always asking my younger 2 kids to always get things for her. The first few times I ignored it and my younger daughter would happily run off and grab the item for her sister. Then, I started to intervene and make my oldest go get it herself. But then reading this made me think I could be using these opportunities to encourage my younger two how to have a servant's heart and do these things with a good attitude. Now trust me, I still have talks with the eldest about not abusing her siblings in this way. But using all of this as a teachable moment for everyone. 

Keep an eye out for the small acts of service your child does for anyone and encourage that behavior and how to do all things as if they were actually serving Christ! You can use and even pray, Colossians 3:23-24, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving”. While praying, you can also pray for your child’s attitude. That their attitude be the same as Jesus and that any bad attitudes turn into kindness, compassion, generosity, and selflessness. Pray that they will want to go the extra mile for others and they do not becoming weary from doing good. (Galatians 6:9).

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Here are a few samples from the chapter; 

Heavenly Father…..

Don’t let _____ become weary in doing good. Let him know that at the proper time he will reap a harvest if he does not give up.

Galatians 6:9 

Teach _____ that if she wants to become great, she must be a servant. If she wants to be first, she must be a slave - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. 

Matthew 20:26-28 

Let _____ do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than himself. Let him look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others, and let his attitude be the same as that of Christ Jesus. 

Philippians 2: 3-5 

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As it is looking, I do not think we are going to be able to meet April 19th for our next NGP group.

If you would like a full copy of the all the prayers used in this Chapter, email me at amoll@harvestpittsburghnorth.org 

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Citation:

Berndt, Jodie. Praying the Scriptures for your Children: Pg 76-86, 2001