LEARN TO CLAIM GOD’S PROMISES FOR YOUR CHILDREN

My wife and I are blessed with two healthy, bright, wonderful children. They are both miracles.
Our son, Zion Seth, had a very traumatic birth that, according to the attending physicians, should have left him brain damaged from oxygen deprivation. But we “spoke to the mountain” expecting it to move and God honored His Word. Our son is anything but mentally challenged. During high school he scored in the top 5 percent in the U.S. on his ACT test.

Seth also had a physical handicap: he was a toe-walker until the age of eight. He never walked without walking on his toes. A specialist suggested surgery, but he warned us that the process would be very risky and could result in him being crippled for life.

As we discussed the options, I heard God say, “Leave this place and don’t ever come back.” Soon after, in a large convention, two Spirit-filled ministers joined me in intercession over Seth for about 20 minutes. He was healed and has walked flat-footed ever since.

Our daughter was an even greater faith-challenge. After viewing an ultra-sound image, the doctor concluded she had Spinal Bifoda. Because of certain challenges my wife was facing in her thyroid gland, he said the baby would probably also be severely retarded. Leaning across the desk, the physician suggested we consider an “alternative.” We knew he was implying abortion—so we took an “alternative”: we left his office never intending to return. To her amazement, as we walked out, my wife, Elizabeth, heard the voice of the LORD say, “Your daughter will dance on the streets of Jerusalem.” We had just been told she would never walk, but God said she will dance—how powerful is that!

On the basis of this rhema word from God, once again, we rose up in faith. Several times every day during the following weeks, Elizabeth would lay hands on her stomach and quote a promise out of Psalm 138:8:

“The LORD will perfect that which concerns me…”

Then she would confess, “LORD, this child concerns me. I am concerned over her health and her future. So I believe you will make her perfect.” Teary-eyed but trusting God, she often sang over this “princess-to-be” the popular song, “I Hope You Dance.” We even gave her the name Destiny Hope as a prophetic way of defying the prognosis that made it look like she had no real destiny and little hope.

As my wife was giving birth, struggling with lingering fears, she nervously asked, “Doctor, how does she look?” Unaware of the Bible promise Elizabeth had been claiming for months, he responded, “She’s perfect.” And she was. Amazingly, by the time Destiny was four, she began showing a natural proclivity for worshipful dance. Coincidence?

Absolutely not! Spirit-inspired intercession had penetrated her future and awakened God’s purpose in her life.
Against huge odds, both children came forth healthy and intelligent (a little too intelligent at times). Did this happen because they had Christian parents who were devoted to God—who sought God fervently—who trusted God to fulfill His promises? No qualms about it. Faith in God and the power of confessing His Word were the deciding factors.

The Moment of Inspiration

As you can see by these examples, parenting has been a faith-fight for my wife and me from the start. In fact, we were initially told that we would never have children, but when God spoke to me that it was time to marry, He also told me we would have a son—so I never really considered the negative report. I clung to the prophetic word.
Many years later, burdened over new issues my children were facing, I began searching for new Scripture passages to claim. I didn’t expect what I discovered. As I explored God’s promises (there are 7,487 in the Bible) the Holy Spirit began leading me to dozens of divinely-spoken pledges that were specifically given to the children of those who are in a covenant relationship with God. I was ecstatic.
I felt like a spiritual prospector who accidentally stumbled on a mother lode: a primary vein of gold in God’s Word. After “digging” about a year, I amassed a substantial pot of gold—65 “nuggets” out of God’s Word—65 Biblical Promises Gives to the Offspring of Those Who Serve God. What an empowerment I felt as a parent! How equipped I felt to pray effectively and prophetically over my children!

From that point, I quit pleading for a move of God in their lives. In the words of Psalms 2:7, I began to “Declare the Decree.” A “decree” is a royal order having the force of law. Because the King of Creation has decreed these things over our children; we have the right to declare them—to verbally enforce God’s laws in the spiritual realm, defying everything that opposes His purpose.

As this revelation blossomed within my heart, I realized, “This needs to be shared. There are millions of parents “out there” who are praying in desperation, not in faith—and many of them have little or no idea that these promises exist. I have to communicate this truth to them.” So I set aside several other important writing projects and focused on getting this insight in print.

Meanwhile, I began daily praising God for the fulfillment of the 65 promises—decreeing that God’s Word be fulfilled for our son and our daughter. This one quickly became one of my favorites:

“For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring. They will spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses” (Is. 44:3-4).

Within a few months of claiming this promise, my five-year-old daughter was baptized with the Holy Spirit. After lying on the floor for about 45 minutes, crying and speaking in tongues, she crawled up in my arms and whispered, “Daddy, Jesus filled me—He really filled me.” Was the timing just coincidental? I don’t think so.

In the passage, the “grass” represents the people of this world (“All flesh is grass”—Isaiah 40:6). Yet the offspring of believers are likened to “willows by the watercourses” in comparison. That means they will not be common (like the grass). Rather, they will be unique, rising above the masses in distinctiveness and excellence. The river of life will be there to sustain them spiritually, and as the branches of a willow bow to the ground, so will they bow in humility before God all their days. Quite possibly, that’s what those verses symbolize.

Of course, many reading this article are trouble or even grief-stricken because things appear much different than this in your family. You may feel your children are walking in darkness, refusing to acknowledge the truth you embrace. Don’t give in to discouragement. God has already pledged:

“Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, and gather you from the west; I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' and to the south, 'Do not keep them back!' Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth—Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him” (Is. 43:5-7).

Notice God starts by calling them “your descendents,” then He declares, “Bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth.” Apparently, because they belong to you, He adopts them as His own—and places His canopy of protection and provision over their lives. Having been dedicated to God, they are “called by His name” and created “for His glory.” The world system wants to claim them for its glory, but God says otherwise. Satanic forces are constantly striving to invade their lives, but God has uttered the war cry:

“I will contend with him who contends with you; and I will save your children” (Is. 49:25).

As you echo this divine pledge over your seed, it will surely compel the Lord of hosts (the God of an army of angels) to fulfill His Word—rising to your defense. In Matthew 18:10 the Messiah gave a blanket promise for ALL children, that “their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.”

If that is true for any child, how much more true it is for the children of God’s people! And if these heavenly beings are so powerful that it only took one angel to crush an entire Assyrian army, we can rest assured that their constant surveillance of our offspring will result in major spiritual breakthroughs. Yes, the Judge of all the earth has announced:

“Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered” (Prov. 11:21).
Seize that divine pledge with your spirit and speak it over your child right now. God didn’t say they “might” be delivered; He said they “shall be delivered.”

Face it parents! If we do this job of all jobs right, we need God’s assistance. At best we can only fill our children with Biblical “information” that will help them make right choices in life. Only God can bring revelation that results in character transformation—yet this is the very thing He promised to do in Isaiah 54:13:
“All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children.”
Furthermore, you should consider this: the New Covenant began with a prophetic declaration over the children of God’s people. On the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came in the upper room like a rushing mighty wind, Peter explained:
“For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions’” (Acts 2:15-17).
As it was in the beginning, so it is now. You who are filled with God’s Spirit, begin to claim “the spirit of prophecy” and “vision” awakened in your sons and daughters. God has given these decrees; it is your responsibility to declare them. If you do—prepare to see a miracle in your family!
By: Mike Shreve