For the Children

 

 

What’s your prayer for the children in your life?

 

  • That they’ll be happy and healthy
  • Success in school
  • That they’ll stay out of trouble

How about these?

Love the Lord — heart, soul, mind and strength, and their neighbors as themselves
(Mark 12:30-31) 

Be filled with the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control
(Galatians 5:22-23) 

Seek first the kingdom of God
(Matthew 6:33) 

Use their spiritual gifts to build up the Church
(Ephesians 4:12)

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Safe Children, Loved Children

 

“Americans recognize Mother’s Day, Father’s Day… so why not a national Children’s Day? A day that revives, celebrates, and commits to our children and their future.”
NationalChildrensDay.US

 

The second Sunday in June is Children’s Day. 

Many children in America live in safe homes, with enough food and the support of loving parents. But more than 3.6 million referrals involving more than 6 million children are made every year to child protection agencies. Countless others live in unhappy, unsafe situations.

Let’s pray not just for our own children, but for the millions who find themselves in homes filled with tension and violence, on the street, in foster care and residential treatment. Let’s minister not only to the children we know and love, but also to these unknown children who desperately need love.

Open our eyes and hearts, Lord, to children in desperate need. Drive us to prayer and action on their behalf.

 

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Trust Your Best Weapon

 

Psalm 20:7 (NIV)
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

 

Our strongest weapon – the name of our God. Don’t be afraid of it.

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Armed with Discipline

 

“Discipline is the soul of an army.”
George Washington (1732-1799)

 

 

Washington’s wisdom also applies to God’s army.

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Ready for War

Psalm 144:1 (ERV)
Praise the Lord!
He is my Rock.
He prepares me for war.
He trains me for battle.

 

Better to fight with the Lord than against him.

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Almighty Violence

Genesis 49:25 (NIV)
. . . the Almighty, who blesses you with blessings of the skies above.

“The Almighty.” In his Sunday sermon, my husband noted that the Hebrew word here, Shadday, can mean “deal violently with.” 

God, violent? Dose that surprise you?

It shouldn’t, considering how violently God dealt with sin.

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This Is War

Ephesians 6:12 (NLT)
For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

 

So we’re in a battle. How do you feel about that?

  • I want love, not war
  • Life is a struggle
  • We know how it ends—God wins

Much as we’d like to keep it all peace and love, God is quite clear: there’s a battle between good and evil. We have an enemy, and he is at war with us. We need to fight back.

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Safe Shelter for Those Who Provide Safe Shelter

We read stories about brave folks who, back in Hitler’s time, risked their lives to protect others.

We may wish that had been the end of religious persecution, but we know better. There are still places where people of faith are on the run. We pray for them, for their safety, for their escape.

But let’s not forget to pray for those dear souls who give them a moment’s safe passage: a bit to eat, a place to sleep, a space to hide.

Lord, protect those who take risks to protect your persecuted people. Do to them as they do to others — be their safe shelter even as they provide safe shelter for others.

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In the Name of Peace

Psalm 122:6
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem. “The city of Salem. the city of Shalom.

The city of peace.

Lord God, may Jerusalem live up to its name.
May it live up to your name, Prince of Peace.

 

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Private Peace

A bit of ancient wisdom:

 

“We should have much more peace if we would not busy ourselves with the sayings and doings of others.”
Thomas a Kempis, (1380-1471)

 

Some things never change.

 

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