Over the last fortnight, I have been teaching at several places, including our church’s Healing Course, on the authority we carry as Christians and how we are commissioned to bring Heaven to Earth. (eg Matthew 6:10 “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven’). This has prompted me to think about how our family life could be quite different if we were exhibiting Kingdom values all the time at home. I’m not sure about your home, but sometimes our home isn’t quite ‘heaven on earth’!!

I started musing about how it might be a great start to even pray that prayer over them. To help my children see themselves how Heaven sees them, how they are known in heaven and that we can live a life full of Kingdom values and not earthly values.

Think about asking your children to ‘imagine’ what heaven on earth would be like for them, for the family, for the world. Then spend a few moments in praying, asking God to bring Heaven and all you have imagined to earth. What an amazing outcome could be in store for our children, ourselves and those around us if we consistently did this.

A friend did just this. It had been a rough evening, her husband was away and as she lay in bed that night, she decided to give it a try. She imagined things as they could be, not as they currently were. She declared things roughly like this, “God, (her son) is known in Heaven as a leader, as courageous, as great at making wise decisions. He is kind at all times and is great at writing and persisting in doing hard things. (My daughter) is known in heaven as loving to try new things, in being kind to everyone and using kind words. She is a leader and is self-controlled. She is especially kind in what she says. She has a brilliant mind and can do her schoolwork easily. This is how they are and how they are known in Heaven so I bring that here to earth. (My son) here on earth will be a great leader who is courageous and great at making wise decisions. (My son) is kind here on earth and is great at writing etc etc. Thank you Father God that how you see them in heaven and how they are known in heaven is how they really are and we partner in agreement with seeing them like that here on earth.”

The exact wording is not the issue. The issue is being able to see their identity in heaven and agree with that being their identity here on earth. Our words have a powerful effect and what we say doesn’t return to us empty. (Isaiah 55:11 – our words have power to create and curse or bless.)

My friend said that the next morning, there was a miraculous change in how her children were behaving. They were kind to each other and themselves. They were helpful etc. Not that it is a once off, now everything has miraculously changed kind of thing. My friend commented how the night before it had taken ages to pray that for every family member and herself and she would have to look at condensing it to make it a workable prayer for use on a daily/semi-daily basis.

I wonder what our homes would look like if we did this on a regular basis? If we taught our children to do this on a regular basis?

How encouraging would this be as a child to have these things prayed and declared over you!! Perhaps even ask your children to identify those things they want to change to be more ‘Heaven-like’ in their behaviour and character.