Intercessory Prayer for our Children

There have been only a handful of times in my Christian life that I have clearly heard the voice of God. And it seems like those times only happen at night after everyone is asleep, and even, sometimes, after I am asleep. I can't say I blame Him; the only time I can hear my own thoughts is after the house is completely quiet. But these times that He will wake me up, or come to me when I am laying in bed thinking, are proving to be the most powerful times in my walk with Him. I have been able to intercede on behalf of those I love. I am more prone to listen and then take action by pouring out my heart and soul to Him.

Last night, my almost 4 year old woke up crying. Again. He's been doing this for awhile now. We'll lay him down in his bed, he'll fall asleep, but then an hour or so later, he will wake up. And cry. And last night, I had lost my patience with it. I was tired, I knew I needed to get decent sleep so that I could be up early to workout with my husband, and I was at my wit's end. As I lay there, almost in tears because my little boy was having such difficult nights all the time (which meant mommy was too), a familiar voice spoke to me. And I thought, "Really God? Right now? I am trying to get my kid back to sleep so that I can go back to sleep! Right now is NOT a good time for me." And I turned over and let poor Buddy cry on while I tried to fall asleep through it. God wasn't finished. With gentle nudges, He softened my heart enough to get me to listen. As I listened, He was telling me to pray. Pray for your son. He needs you to pray for Him.

Okay, you win God. I turned over to face my poor, whimpering boy. I didn't know why I was praying, or what I was praying for. I just knew I needed to act on what God was telling me to do. I began to pray. "Lord, I don't know what is wrong with Buddy. But you do. I need You to bring peace to him, calm him, release him from whatever it is that is bothering him." I put my hand on him and prayed for healing. I don't know what he needed healing from, but God did. Within minutes maybe even seconds of me praying and interceding for my boy, he stopped crying. He turned over and fell asleep and didn't wake up for the rest of the night.

Parents, we need to intercede for our children. Not just when they are troubled, not only when we are fed up with them. We need to be on our knees praying for them every day. We need to be praying for them morning, noon and night. Children don't always know what to pray for. We don't always know what to pray for, but if we are invested in their souls, we won't let a day go by that we don't intercede on their behalf. There are demons that try to destroy families. They roam around looking for whom to devour. Our job as Christian parents is to stand our ground at the front lines of the battlefield and FIGHT. Even if fighting means we get less sleep. Our children need us.

It is a spiritual fight we are fighting for our children's lives and if we are not ready and willing to stand up and fight or kneel down and pray for them, we may as well condemn them to a life that has no direction, no purpose. We are our children's warriors.

Jesus has interceded for us. He intercedes for us daily. Will we take our post at the front lines and do the same?

"Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them." Hebrews 7:25