My son, if your heart is wise, my heart will rejoice

We pray that our children will never envy sinners and we are happy when they honor their mother and father. Help us, today, to set a good example for our children. We are so imperfect as parents that few of us can say, “Do as I do”.

The pain of birth, the joy of an eternal future

Jesus, You taught Your disciples of Your impending crucifixion and they, at first, did not understand. We now stand on the other side of that event. You likened the depth of Your pain to childbirth, in that while it seemed unfathomable, shortly thereafter the joy of birth turned the pain into rejoicing in a new life, a child created in Your image. Jesus, You have gone through pain, disgrace and separation for each one of us and have emerged our risen Savior. Your suffering has led us to the portal of eternal life, to our Spiritual birth. Now we rejoice, not in the suffering, which we too will occasionally experience, but in the resurrection and redemption, first of You, then of us.

The moment has come. It is time to glorify Jesus.

Jesus, we acknowledge You as the Son of God, our personal Savior and our Advocate at the time of judgment. We have confidence that our love for You, by the grace given to us by God to be His chosen children, will result in our being with all believers in heaven, rejoicing forever.

Parents plus children…guaranteed stress!

Father, such wisdom seems obvious to us but we do experience both grief and joy as parents. Help us, today, with those circumstances wherein children are alienated from us as parents. We are so tempted to blame the child when they misbehave but it is the heart of the child that has lost focus.

Perfected but not perfect…what?

Being perfect is our goal and we know that is Your will for us. In the meantime, teach us and guide us, every moment to observe Your Presence. Your thoughts towards us exceed number. Help us to respond by drawing near to You knowing that as we do, You draw nearer to us.

Haughty, proud…not me!

Father, in your economy, a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day. We know that life is very short (described as a vapor) and eternity is forever but these tiny moments exert more leverage than we sometimes acknowledge. The moments of our lives shape our eternity. That is leverage! Help us be loving and obedient, constantly, in the midst of both our triumphs and our losses.

Just how much license does our liberty give us?

You tell us that if we are insensitive to the needs of a weaker brother that we are sinning against You. That is a powerful reason for us to show patience when we are inclined to do otherwise.

Inexpressible joy…a saved child.

Father, we are Your children and You have taught us that the saints are on tiptoes, so to speak, watching for the arrival of a soul into the kingdom. Your joy in our redemption, made possible by Jesus’ cleansing, preparing us for entry into Your presence, is even greater than our joy in our children.

Deny God? Not me, not ever!

The children are a special treasure in Your eyes. What is it Father that we adults lack? Do we lack the forthright nature of a child? Their innocence is genuine, not contrived. Their faith in Your love and the love of those around them is not like our faith as we mature. Our faith in other adults is usually conditional, based on how things are going at the moment