1 John 2
2 Chronicles 35
Psalm 89:38-52
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Thoughts and Commentary on Today's Reading
One of the most difficult things to face, as a parent, is the awareness that our beloved children are not right with God. In 1 John 2, we find the warning that we are not to "love" the "world" nor the "things" that are in the world. And if we love the world and its things the love of the Father is not in us.Bleakly, many of us are faced with the dreaded awareness that our children simply do not love Yahweh - but rather love the world. What are the signs? Maybe they are "good people" in most every way except that they do not worship God, keep His appointments, or spend any time with Him at all in order to foster a love relationship with Him. Maybe they are "successful" in their jobs and worldly pursuits, but their focus is on keeping up with Jones, paying bills, finding a love-relationship, choosing a career path. And when they come home at night from all their daily pursuits, they "unwind" with some RP (roll-playing) game online or watch a movie... But whatever it is that they are doing, God simply isn't part of it. You may know what I'm talking about all too well...
You are torn between being proud of your children for being "decent" people, while being deeply disappointed at their decided lack of interest in God, a Biblical-world-view, or anything spiritual which you tried to raise them to understand. You notice this "God-less-ness"... It worries you... It breaks your heart even! What happened to that precious little one that you used to take to church or read Bible stories with? Where is the knowledge of God in your children now? Are those seeds you spent their childhood sowing simply gone?
If God is the most central part of your own personal world, you find yourself loving your children (of course! - and deeply), but you cannot relate to them as deeply as you would if you shared the same values and beliefs. You try to comfort yourself with the belief that you did your best. Maybe you quote the Scripture that if you train up a child in the way he should go he will not depart from it... You wonder if that means you will have to wait until your children are in their 50's before they will return to God and the Truth of His Word. What if the world doesn't last long enough?
Then guilt eats away at your soul. Deep down you worry that maybe you can't even claim that "train up a child" verse from Proverbs 22:6. After all, you look at your own failings in raising your children (let's be honest, we have all fallen far short of the perfect parenting mark!) You worry that maybe you didn't "train up a child in the way he should go..." You see-saw back and forth in a useless inner turmoil unsure whether you did enough.
But the reality is that all of this sorrow and inner turmoil can be a distraction. Its time to face facts and do something productive for the saving of your children. Instead of waffling around on the issue of whether or not they're saved or lost, fact up to it. If your children simply know of God, but do not honor or worship Him; if they are aware of Him, but do not have a personal relationship with Yahshua; they are not spiritually safe. In fact, they cannot be saved without have a personal connection with Christ as their personal Redeemer. So, the first step in being effective is to recognize the reality that they may be spiritually lost. Once the awareness of the full reality is allowed to sink in, we as parents, are motivated to stop "accepting" and "ignoring" what's going on with our kids. And we are motivated to move into spiritual S-O-S mode in daily prayer for the salvation of our children.
If your children are spiritually dead - ask Yahweh, Who raises the dead to raise them up (Hebrews 11:35).
If your children's hearts are far from you, as their parent, because they have rejected your Biblical world view - ask Yahweh to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers (Malachi 4:6).
Pray for your children, twice a day... Labor in the prayer trenches on their behalves. Claim the Saviour's Blood over them while they are not repenting for themselves. Stand in the gap! Commit to praying twice a day for your children - not some weak, mamby-pamby prayer... but full-on intercession. Here are some prayers to pray, first for yourself, and then for your children:
Warfare Prayer for Yourself
Dear Heavenly Father, as You have instructed me to do in James 4:7, I now submit myself to You and to Your will for my life today. As it is my desire to be wholly Thine, I lay my sins down before the foot of the Cross and seek complete forgiveness and cleansing from the unrighteousness of ______________ (List your sins completely and specifically at this point in this private prayer with God.)
I now claim Your promise of 1 John 1:9, which says that if I confess my sins You are faithful and just to forgive me my sins to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Thank You for doing this mighty work in me just now.
I am currently under attack in the area of ____________ (state the Fruit-Test-failing emotion or other form of temptation at this time). Heavenly Father, because of what Jesus has done for me in defeating the enemy, You have promised to give me authority over all the hosts of hell in Matthew 12:29 and Mark 16:17. Thank You for these promises, and in Christ’s holy Name I claim them now.
Satan, where you have been attacking me in the area of ______________ I resist you in the mighty and powerful Name of Jesus Christ, my Saviour. In the Name of Jesus, I bind and rebuke you, Satan, and I command you to leave me. You and all your demons must leave me right now, because of the victory Jesus has claimed for me at Calvary.
Heavenly Father, I know that it is Your will for me to be victorious in this struggle with the enemy. Thus, I know I am praying according to Your will as I claim the precious blood of Jesus to be a mighty protecting shield be-tween me and the enemy at this time. And I ask that You will surround me with a wall of holy angels with flaming swords to drive back the forces of darkness that have been assaulting me in this way. By faith, I know that You are already fighting for me. And I thank You for this and for the deliverance You are providing me at this very moment.
All praise and glory for this victory I render rightly unto You my Heavenly King. For it is through Your power that I am enabled to stand right now. Thank You for Your love and for helping me to escape the onslaught of Satan and his evil angels. Thank You also for the freedom and victory You are giving me in answer to this prayer. In Jesus’s Name I ask it, Amen.Warfare Prayer for Your Child(ren)
(It is recommended that you pray the warfare prayer for yourself first before praying this prayer on another’s behalf). Dear Heavenly Father, in prayer I now come before Your throne because of Your wonderful invitation in Hebrews 4:16, where You have invited me to come boldly before Your Throne to find grace and help in time of need. Thank You for this promise and this invitation. I do indeed seek Your grace and help on behalf of ______________.
He/she does not realize it, but he/she is under attack from the enemy in the area of ________________. Thus, I come to You heavenly Father to pray and intercede for _____________ today. It may be that _____________’s own choices of friends or influences is giving Satan the legal right to attack as heavily as he is. Thus, as Hosea prayed for Gomer, I ask that You place a hedge of thorns around ________________. Cause the path of sin and all unholy influences to become a source of irritation to ________________. May he/she not find peace or comfort on this destructive path.
Satan, where you are working to destroy ________________, in the Name and Blood of Jesus Christ, I bind and rebuke you and command you to take your hands off of him/her. Your legal rights to destroy ______________ are cancelled by the fact that I claim the sacrifice and victory of Jesus on ___________’s be-half against you.
Heavenly Father, I ask that You will anoint _______________’s eyes with eye-salve that he/she may have spiritual discernment to recognize the spiritual battle that is going on. Please take the demonic scales from his/her eyes at this moment. May he/she have wisdom to recognize his/her need of You. Please pour out Your Spirit upon __________ in a mighty way just now to convict of sin and lead this precious one back into a right relationship with You. Because of Christ’s sacrifice on ___________’s behalf I claim His victory on the Cross for him/her. I ask that Your Holy Spirit will have all legal rights because of Christ’s sacrifice to work in a powerful way upon ________________’s mind.
Draw _______________ to You in any means You see fit and most effective. Please spare nothing, but rather do all that heaven can do to save ______________________ from this and all demonic strongholds and influence to the saving of his/her soul.
Thank You for hearing and answering this prayer. In Jesus’s Name I ask it, Amen.Keep this up day-by-day. As Job prayed daily for his wayward adult children, don't quit! No one on earth is better able to pray for your children's salvation than you. Cry out to God for the strength and then stay in the prayer trenches on their behalves. And may God bless you for it as you stand in the gap, Heaven will gain the legal right to interpose in your children's lives. Prayer... its the key. And be encouraged!
