I don’t know if you have ever prayed the prayer that Jesus prayed when He was on earth, specifically the part “On earth as it is in heaven”. (Matthew 6:10 “Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.)
We can greatly impact our world and our children’s world by praying that prayer over them. We can start to see them how heaven sees them, how they are known in heaven and bring that image to earth and ask God to make it the same here on earth. What an amazing outcome could be in store for our children, ourselves and those around us if we consistently did this.
Several nights ago a friend did just this. It had been a rough evening, her husband was away overseas and as she lay in bed that night, she decided to give it a try. She said things roughly like this, “God, Matey is known in heaven as a leader, as courageous, as great at making wise decisions. Matey is kind at all times and is great at writing and persisting in doing hard things. Princess is known in heaven as loving to try new things, in being kind to everyone and using kind words. Princess is a leader and is self-controlled. Princess 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. Matey here on earth will be a great leader who is courageous and great at making wise decisions. Matey is kind here on earth and is great at writing 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. Thus, if we call someone ‘stupid’, they will feel ‘stupid’ and begin to make ‘stupid’ decisions.
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.
What would our homes look like if we did this on a regular basis? If we taught our children to do this on a regular basis?
Great post!
Great reminder!
Hi Jane!
Love the concept! I wonder how one might go about crafting a prayer like this… how can you begin to see your child through heaven’s eyes and pray specific things you know they are destined for? I.e., how can you tell they are destined for something? Are you looking for things they are beginning to bud into or are you calling out things you hope they will grow into?
Thanks Ellen – great questions. I tend to focus on their character and personality and thanking God for them and the strengths I would love to see develop eg being courageous and honest and also for skills that are a combination with character eg leadership. Both of our kids have careers identified that they would like to do already but I don’t tend to pray that into being in front of them in case they change their mind. I tend to bless them and call into being their leadership, their kindness and compassion, their being quick to forgive, their honesty, their ability to make wise decisions and act accordingly, their courageous spirit, their ability to make friendships and be a friend, to see the lonely and to incorporate them into their friendship groups etc. Also, the things they are struggling with I pray the opposite into being. Does that help?