"The battle for our children's lives is waged on our knees. When we don't pray, it's like sitting on the sidelines watching our children in a war zone getting shot at from every angle. When we do pray, we're in the battle alongside them, appropriating God's power on their behalf."
She also says, "Whenever you pray for your child, do it as if you are interceding for his or her life—because that's exactly what you are doing. Remember that while God has a perfect plan for our children's lives, Satan has a plan for them too."1
We have an enemy who wishes to damage our children. He wants their hearts and their minds. We are in a battle for the lives of our children, and, as previously quoted, the battle can only be waged on our knees in prayer. We can't wish the enemy wouldn't bother them or hope he will go away. We can, however, defeat him by the power of the Word of the Living God.
Take a Stand
Read carefully and claim the mighty message of Ephesians 6:10–13:
"Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."
We can defeat the enemy because we are enabled to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. We can put on the full armor of God in order to take our stand against any scheme the devil might attempt to throw at our children. This armor will allow us to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, and it will allow us to defeat the enemy as we wield the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God!
Jesus defeated the enemy using the Word whenever Satan began to tempt or try to do Him physical harm (Matt. 4:4-11). His example should be our own, because the enemy's tactics are still at work today. Satan wishes to cause our children to fall morally and spiritually. He desires to poison the minds of our children so that they will be unable to be of service to the Living God.
As parents, grandparents, teachers, youth workers—and others with children in our spheres of influence—we must stand firm against the enemy and declare that he cannot have the minds of our children. We must fight for them in faithful prayer and teach them to fight for themselves! It is foolish and dangerous to ignore the schemes of Satan, for he is powerful and looking for every weakness.
This is a lifelong battle, and we must never let down our guard. We must diligently pray and teach our children how to pray the Word of God as a sure defense against the one who continually seeks to destroy. Only through the powerful Word can victory be won over our sinful natures and the enemy.
Prayers of Truth and Power
Here are some specific ways to pray that the minds of your children and grandchildren will be protected against the deceptions and schemes of Satan—and are instead saturated with the mind of Christ:
- Pray that your children's minds will be controlled by the Holy Spirit so that they can be pleasing to God and filled with life and peace. "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, for the carnal mind is hostile toward God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can it be" (Rom. 8:5-7).
Sample Prayer: Holy God, give my children the mind of the Spirit, set upon what the Spirit desires so that their lives will be characterized by life and peace. Help them to fight against the sinful mind that the enemy would seek to place within them, so that they will live lives submitted completely to You.
- Pray that your children will continually ask the Lord to examine their hearts and minds so that they will be able to walk in truth and purity. "Examine me, O Lord, and test me; try my affections and my heart. For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth" (Ps. 26:2-3).
- Pray that your children will use their minds to understand and search out wisdom so that they can recognize the stupidity of wickedness. "And I turned my heart to know, and seek and search out wisdom in how things are and to experience wicked folly, even foolishness and madness" (Eccl. 7:25).
- Pray that their minds will be steadfast as they trust in the Lord. "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for in God the Lord we have an everlasting rock" (Is. 26:3-4).
- Pray that your children will keep the greatness of the Lord's faithfulness always in their minds, so that they will have hope. "But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed; His compassions do not fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness" (Lam. 3:21-23).
- Pray that your children will always have the mind of Christ, "casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5).
- Pray that your children's minds will never be led astray and that they will always have sincere and pure devotion to Christ. "But I fear that somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve through his trickery, so your minds might be led astray from the simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Cor. 11:3).
- Pray that your children's minds will be saturated with God's peace in every trial and difficult circumstance. "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will protect your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:7). read here
- Pray that your children will be drawn to value spiritual truths over earthly things. "Set your affection on things above, not on things on earth" (Col. 3:2).
- Pray that your children's minds will always be prepared for action, so that they can live out lives of holiness. "Therefore guard your minds, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children do not conduct yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance. But as He who has called you is holy, so be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy'" (1 Pet. 1:13-16).
Now that you have the Lord's perfect strategy for keeping the minds of your children protected from Satan, be diligent in your prayers. Be consistent in your teaching of the Word and in your personal study and devotion. Most of all, be a godly example for your children and grandchildren to follow as they mature in Christ
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