Is praying for your kids salvation a waste of time, since God doesn't "force" His will on anyone?
By Abraham Israel
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"Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,
And the prey of the terrible be delivered;
For I will contend with him who contends with you,
And I will save your children." (Is 49:25).
"Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
In the very heart of your house,
Your children [shall be] like olive plants
All around your table." (Ps 128:3).
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By Abraham Israel
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It is true that God never forces His will over anybody, not even the kids. At the same time kids are put under the mentorship of the parents. In other words, God expects the parent to train the children up with the help of God (Duet 11:19; 32:46). This is the reason the Bible says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." (Prov 22:6). Training a child includes, teaching the child to pray, read the Bible, correct them when they do wrong, etc... it also includes praying for the little child to God who has put the parent as a trainer over the kids life. This is the reason God has given instruction for the parents to not provoke their children to wrath (Eph 6:4). Say a parent was upset a particular day, the child comes as usual naggingly for a simple thing. Suddenly the parent blows off and the child gets hurt. If this saga continues perpetually, how will the child be trained in a godly way for it to be saved? Here in this situation what does God expect? He expects the parent to pray toward Him for grace and wisdom to deal with the situation, instead of being reactive without prayer (James 1:5). The bottom line is, does God require the parent to pray for their children? Of course as we have seen above it is absolutely necessary.
1) The first reason we should pray for our children is, God's promise of salvation comes as a package for the whole family unit. It does not separate the children as separate entities. Say for example, when the Philippian Jailer asked Paul, "What must I do to be saved?", Apostle Paul said, "....Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." (Acts 16:31). What does it mean? It means that when a Father of a house or a Mother of a house gets saved, God gets his spiritual hold over other members of the family too (1 Cor 7:14). They are the legal authority gateways that God has set forth in the natural physical realm through which either God or the Devil can have influence inside the family. The Father and Mother is like a shepherd over the sheep who are their children. So only Jesus said to His disciples " ....All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘ I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' (Matt 26:31). The same Jesus as a faithful shepherd prayed for his weak apostolic sheep Peter and thus he was saved and became a great apostolic rock because his faith did not fail during the crisis (Luke 22:31-32). If the Father or Mother fails to pray, the whole family unit gets affected.
2) God expects the Fathers and Mothers to pray for their children so that He can answer their prayer work at the right appointed time. Prayer is a hard work that brings invaluable reward. God promised to restore the children of Israel in the future because Rachel as a mother wept for them,"A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children.....refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded, says the LORD, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope in your future, says the LORD, That your children shall come back to their own border." (Jer 31:15-17). What a wonderful promise to hold on for our children! Praise the Lord.
3) When a child goes astray, their parent's will always get troubled. If you as a parent have already thanked God and prayed every day for the child's well-being, when the trouble comes in that's when God will step in to deliver your children from calamity at the moment you call Him. This promise can be claimed by any parent who has actively prayed with thanks giving for their children in advance. The Bible says, "Offer to God thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High [Note: In advance].Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me." (Ps 50:14-15). The main meaning of the word 'saved' is 'to get delivered from evil'. In this way our children will be delivered from evil if we by faith pray and thank God in advance which is equal to 'paying our vows (promises)' [i.e. promising to return the glory to God through your continuous thanksgiving]. If we as a parent do not fulfill the precondition, we will not see the promise of God's deliverance that gets activated only for those who have taken the 'vows of thanksgiving' upon themselves.
4) The next reason we should pray the promises of God for our children is because God says in His word, "Put Me in remembrance; Let us contend together; State your case, that you may be acquitted [i.e. Justified]" (Is 43:26). The word 'remembrance' in Hebrew is 'zakar' which means '1) to remember, recall, call to mind a) (Qal) to remember, recall b) (Niphal) to be brought to remembrance, be remembered, be thought of, be brought to mind c) (Hiphil) 1) to cause to remember, remind 2) to cause to be remembered, keep in remembrance 3) to mention 4) to record 5) to make a memorial, make remembrance'. This reminds us that we are indeed building up a memorial [i.e. a visible structure to cause God to act on our behalf] before God by mentioning His promises which He has made regarding our children. When we spend time with God stating the case of our children through the promises of God, God then justifies them and brings them under His guidance and protection supernaturally. The following promises stand true for your children, so substitute your child's name in it and pray to God.
"All your children shall be taught by the LORD,
And great shall be the peace of your children." (Isaiah 54:13).
"But thus says the LORD:
1) The first reason we should pray for our children is, God's promise of salvation comes as a package for the whole family unit. It does not separate the children as separate entities. Say for example, when the Philippian Jailer asked Paul, "What must I do to be saved?", Apostle Paul said, "....Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." (Acts 16:31). What does it mean? It means that when a Father of a house or a Mother of a house gets saved, God gets his spiritual hold over other members of the family too (1 Cor 7:14). They are the legal authority gateways that God has set forth in the natural physical realm through which either God or the Devil can have influence inside the family. The Father and Mother is like a shepherd over the sheep who are their children. So only Jesus said to His disciples " ....All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘ I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' (Matt 26:31). The same Jesus as a faithful shepherd prayed for his weak apostolic sheep Peter and thus he was saved and became a great apostolic rock because his faith did not fail during the crisis (Luke 22:31-32). If the Father or Mother fails to pray, the whole family unit gets affected.
2) God expects the Fathers and Mothers to pray for their children so that He can answer their prayer work at the right appointed time. Prayer is a hard work that brings invaluable reward. God promised to restore the children of Israel in the future because Rachel as a mother wept for them,"A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children.....refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded, says the LORD, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope in your future, says the LORD, That your children shall come back to their own border." (Jer 31:15-17). What a wonderful promise to hold on for our children! Praise the Lord.
3) When a child goes astray, their parent's will always get troubled. If you as a parent have already thanked God and prayed every day for the child's well-being, when the trouble comes in that's when God will step in to deliver your children from calamity at the moment you call Him. This promise can be claimed by any parent who has actively prayed with thanks giving for their children in advance. The Bible says, "Offer to God thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High [Note: In advance].Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me." (Ps 50:14-15). The main meaning of the word 'saved' is 'to get delivered from evil'. In this way our children will be delivered from evil if we by faith pray and thank God in advance which is equal to 'paying our vows (promises)' [i.e. promising to return the glory to God through your continuous thanksgiving]. If we as a parent do not fulfill the precondition, we will not see the promise of God's deliverance that gets activated only for those who have taken the 'vows of thanksgiving' upon themselves.
4) The next reason we should pray the promises of God for our children is because God says in His word, "Put Me in remembrance; Let us contend together; State your case, that you may be acquitted [i.e. Justified]" (Is 43:26). The word 'remembrance' in Hebrew is 'zakar' which means '1) to remember, recall, call to mind a) (Qal) to remember, recall b) (Niphal) to be brought to remembrance, be remembered, be thought of, be brought to mind c) (Hiphil) 1) to cause to remember, remind 2) to cause to be remembered, keep in remembrance 3) to mention 4) to record 5) to make a memorial, make remembrance'. This reminds us that we are indeed building up a memorial [i.e. a visible structure to cause God to act on our behalf] before God by mentioning His promises which He has made regarding our children. When we spend time with God stating the case of our children through the promises of God, God then justifies them and brings them under His guidance and protection supernaturally. The following promises stand true for your children, so substitute your child's name in it and pray to God."All your children shall be taught by the LORD,
And great shall be the peace of your children." (Isaiah 54:13).
"But thus says the LORD:
"Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,
And the prey of the terrible be delivered;
For I will contend with him who contends with you,
And I will save your children." (Is 49:25).
"Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
In the very heart of your house,
Your children [shall be] like olive plants
All around your table." (Ps 128:3).
“Arise, cry out in the night,
At the beginning of the watches;
Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord.
Lift your hands toward Him
For the life of your young children,
Who faint from hunger at the head of every street.” (Lamentations 2:19).
“The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.
It is good that one should hope and wait quietly
For the salvation of the LORD.” (Lamentations 3:25-26).
5) If a parent walks in the fear of the Lord, it will have a direct blessing upon their children (Proverbs 20:7; Ps 132:12; 103:17). When a child grows up to become an adult their parents will be the greatest role-model in their life to follow. Let the parent be an example to pray for their children, so that the children after they become adults will pray for their children and for their parents too. It is a blessing that will continue for generations down the line (Is 59:21; Zech 12:1). See here what Apostle Paul spoke about Timothy whose mother and grandmother were strong in faith, "...when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also." (2 Tim 1:5). Actually the faith that was in the grandmother got imparted in to her daughter and then in to her grandson. They both must have prayed much for the little Timothy when he was growing up, that he finally became an Apostle trained under one of the the greatest apostolic father of all time who is Apostle Paul himself. O what a privilege! Praise the Lord!
6) If God really does not intervene in to the lives of His children's, who will? He has the legal rights to correct them [i.e. our children] because they are called by His name and has been bought by shedding His very own precious blood as an blessed exchange for covering and cleansing of all their sins (Dan 9:19; 2 Chronicles 7:14; 1 Cor 6:20; 7:23). See what God says in Amos 3:1-2, "1 Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying: 2 " You only have I known of all the families of the earth; Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities." The New Testament also confirms this by saying, " 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: " My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives." 7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons." (Heb 12:5-8). When we as a parent have dedicated our children's in to the hands of God, they become His property. From that point of time God will intervene, teach them and correct them with chastening whenever they rebel and do things outside our parental zone of visibility.
7) If God does not really intervene in to the lives of our children, why did Jacob by faith prophesied accurately about the future of each of his sons before his death (Gen 49:1-33; Heb 11:21). It was a prayer of faith that he prayed to God telling Him about the plans that He had for the sons of Jacob in the future. God does have a plan for each one of our children individually. So by faith take it from the realm of the Spirit and then pray to God and decree it over the lives of each of your children individually. Surely God is pleased with such prayer of faith and will bring your children in to their individual prophetic destinies. This is what God says to you regarding the destinies that He has individually prepared for your children, "Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: "Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons; and concerning the work of My hands, you command Me." " (Isaiah 45:11). In other words God is saying, ‘Ask me about the plans that I have for My sons [i.e. your children] and you remind Me by speaking over them by faith.' O what a privilege! Praise the Lord!
6) If God really does not intervene in to the lives of His children's, who will? He has the legal rights to correct them [i.e. our children] because they are called by His name and has been bought by shedding His very own precious blood as an blessed exchange for covering and cleansing of all their sins (Dan 9:19; 2 Chronicles 7:14; 1 Cor 6:20; 7:23). See what God says in Amos 3:1-2, "1 Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying: 2 " You only have I known of all the families of the earth; Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities." The New Testament also confirms this by saying, " 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: " My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives." 7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons." (Heb 12:5-8). When we as a parent have dedicated our children's in to the hands of God, they become His property. From that point of time God will intervene, teach them and correct them with chastening whenever they rebel and do things outside our parental zone of visibility.
7) If God does not really intervene in to the lives of our children, why did Jacob by faith prophesied accurately about the future of each of his sons before his death (Gen 49:1-33; Heb 11:21). It was a prayer of faith that he prayed to God telling Him about the plans that He had for the sons of Jacob in the future. God does have a plan for each one of our children individually. So by faith take it from the realm of the Spirit and then pray to God and decree it over the lives of each of your children individually. Surely God is pleased with such prayer of faith and will bring your children in to their individual prophetic destinies. This is what God says to you regarding the destinies that He has individually prepared for your children, "Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: "Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons; and concerning the work of My hands, you command Me." " (Isaiah 45:11). In other words God is saying, ‘Ask me about the plans that I have for My sons [i.e. your children] and you remind Me by speaking over them by faith.' O what a privilege! Praise the Lord!
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