For My Children

Last weekend I was with Carson and Carissa; last night Cody and Elizabeth came home from their skiing trip. I love being with them, hearing them talk, laughing with them. In one of her devotionals, Dena wrote this prayer for her children. She writes from her heart and with my own changes, this is the prayer I'm using for my children today.

Thank You, Lord, for the precious gift of my children. Because Your Word says that every good gift comes from You, I know that You have given them to me--You chose me to be their mother. Help me to love them the way they need to be loved. Help me to teach them with my words and actions. Help. Show me places where I continue to hang on to them and enable me to release them to Your protection, guidance, and counsel. Help me not to live in fear of possible dangers, but in the joy and peace of knowing that You are in control. I rely on You for everything, and this day I trust my children to You and release Cody, Elizabeth, Carson and Carissa into Your hands. I pray that Cody, Elizabeth, Carson and Carissa will be reliable, dependable, responsible, compassionate, sensitive, loving, and giving to others. Deliver them from any pride, laziness, slothfulness, selfishness, or lust of the flesh. I pray that they will have a teachable and submissive spirit that says "Yes" to the things of God and "No" to the things of the flesh. Strengthen them to stand strong in their convictions. Help and guide me and Mark, as parents, to model these attributes to them and that our children will recognize them in us as well as their family and friends. I pray for Cody and Elizabeth's upcoming marriage. Bless them, please. I pray for Carson and Carissa's future spouses. Please work in Carson and Carissa's lives, as well as the young woman and man that You have chosen for them, that they might be sold out for You and that as they draw close to You, they will draw close to the one that You will bring into their life. Please give them safety as they travel. Please guide Carson in the plans You have for him after graduation. I ask this in Jesus name, Amen