Prayer Journal
Monday, January 6, 2003
"Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O Lord." A Psalm of David (25:7)
You might remember David as the man of war who led God's people into a period of prosperity unlike anything the world had seen before him. But for a few moments, I'd like you to think of him as a father who loved his children very much.
I make no excuses for David. Yes, he was a renown king and a man after God's own heart according to Samuel. (1Ki 13:14). But David was not a good father, a fact evidenced by most of his kid's rebellious and wayward attitudes.
Still, he loved his children and mourned deeply when they feel into sin and grieved more profusely when most of them died prematurely. And even though David was leader of God's people, he abandoned the mentoring of his sons to someone else.
I'm not sure which is a stronger influence on children: ungodly peer pressure, the absence of godly parenting or the sinful lifestyle of a mother or father. (I suspect that leaning on the counsel of an ungodly friend is the result of the other two criteria.) Still, there's no arguing that a child who stubbornly regards the counsel of the world while rebuking godly authority will be subject to the destiny of the world. (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25)
David never stopped praying for his children and neither should we. One of David's son's, Solomon wrote in Proverbs 22:6, "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."
As parents, we should be godly in our counsel while our life is consistent with what we preach. But, there is one more thing we should do, and that is to pray. There is nothing in the Bible that says we can pray our children into heaven. However, there seems to be much evidence that the absence of prayer on their behalf is the continuation of parental neglect that exposes them to additional sin.
Just Thinkin'... WebServant
Scripture comes
from the Holy Bible, New International Version; (c)1978 by New
York International Bible Society
Copyright © 1998-2003
James R. Green and Prayertower Ministries - All Rights Reserved
I'll pray today for...
* My spouse
* My children
* Their friends
* My friends
* My employer
* My city
* My country
* Civic leaders
* Schools
* Teachers
* The sick
* The lost
* Those in despair
* The hospitalized
* The grieving
* Widows
* Orphans
* My church
* My pastor
* Church leaders
* Other churches
* Persecuted church
* Missionaries
* Myself
