Hands On and Hands Up Parenting
A mother of grown children talked to me recently about physical parenting and spiritual parenting. Though her days of physically parenting her children (fixing their meals, washing their clothes, putting bandages on their knees and such) is behind her, spiritual parenting is becoming increasingly important. By spiritual parenting, she meant praying for her children.
I love this idea and I couldn’t agree more. As our children encounter more and more issues of adult life, the more they need our prayers. A mother once told me that she believed that perhaps the reason people have trouble sleeping when they get older is so they have an opportunity to pray for their children when they wake up in the middle of the night.
I don’t know about that, but I do know our children need us to pray for them. Praise God for His listening.
Devote yourselves to prayer,
keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving . . .
Colossians 4:2
Not just our children need the prayers. I work with 1st-5th graders at my church. So many of these kids are facing incredible challenges and issues. I find myself not only praying for my children but several that are from unchurched families. We must lift them up–for many of them–no one else is.
How wonderful, Rhoda, that these children have prayers being lifted up on their behalf. Yes, we do need to be praying for other children, too. I’m thankful that these children have you in their lives.