Our 19-year-old daughter is a shift manager at a McDonald’s and was working night shift this weekend. Due to no manager overnight at another store in the same town and two managers always rostered on overnight at my daughter’s store due to a revised policy after an incident, my daughter had to work at the other store for the weekend. This different store was known for its customers’ violence and abusive and aggressive behaviour as it was near all the pubs.

Before she left for work, I checked she had the police on her speed dial. Yes, she did.

After she went to work, I asked God what to pray for her. I prayed God would put angels around the store to guard and prevent anyone entering the store with weapons or anyone abusive or aggressive.

I made sure I was up to greet my daughter when she arrived home. She remarked it was a good night and, apart from one brief encounter at the beginning of the night where a woman lied about her order, the night was relatively easy and unusually quiet. There were many people in the carpark, but they never entered the restaurant. I laughed and shared my prayer with her. Her reply was, “Mum, can you please pray that again tonight when I work!”.

Friends – please remember in your parenting the power we have through prayer. Asking God what His heart is for us to pray for our children’s situation and then praying it.

I didn’t feel like being up all night interceding for her in this situation. I just asked God to place angels outside the store to guard them.

And it works.

Another incident occurred a few weeks ago when our family saw the impossible become a reality for our son through prayer.

And boy, did it increase my faith. I woke up the following morning ready and raring to pray for the impossible and excited to see more miracles.

Wednesday evening, I picked my son up from his group activity. He jumped in the car, and his first words were: “Oh boy, you would never guess what happened?”

As soon as he told me, my heart leapt with excitement. “That’s what I’ve been praying for!!” I almost screamed. He looked at me, amazed. “Really?”

“Yes, but I didn’t tell you, as I knew you would say it was impossible and no way a miracle could happen.”

But God.

But God is in the business of miracles.

But God is in the business of redeeming injustices.

I won’t go into the ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ here as I need to be aware of privacy issues, but God did a miracle. My son had an injustice against him, preventing him from a fantastic opportunity. He accepted it resiliently and didn’t fight back.

But this mama is learning to fight injustices and to speak up. To speak up to God. To go into bat in prayer and declaration.

Even when the miracle occurred and my son was about to be given the opportunity, an official tried to find someone from 29 different groups to fill that role. But God kept it available (or hidden) for my son.

God trumps man.

God is in the business of miracles.

The impossible becomes a reality when we see a miracle, increasing our faith.

When we take our concerns to God and seek His perspective, we can pray His heart and see the outcomes change.

Is there an area in your children’s lives where you desperately seek change? Perhaps even in your life as a parent?

Please try prayer.

Please give it a go.

Please shift the weight of the burden you feel onto God.

Please leave it in His hands and watch the result.

In raising my children, I have often missed the opportunity to pray for them and desired outcomes. I have shouldered the weight of responsibility instead of turning it over to God.

Praying about our children’s issues doesn’t mean it is an automatic guarantee. Often, they will still have to put in the hard yards and do the work. But the outcome may be different. Or opportunities may open like what occurred for my son. God prepared the way for him to attend a 15-day live-in course, but he still had to do the work during the course. He was told he wouldn’t pass the course, but he put in the hard work, pushed himself, and passed.

Several weeks ago, on my other blog (unlockingthegold.com), I posted about my son and the following suggestions.

If you are currently facing an impossible situation, here are a few proven strategies I use to increase my faith and to keep focused on that which God can do and will do.

1. Speak life over your situation. Isaiah 55:11 “so is my word that goes out from my mouth. It will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Speak aloud the result you are desiring. Thank God for the expected result.
2. Remind yourself of past miracles. Surround yourself with ‘memory stones’ – reminders of when God has performed a miracle in your life. Joshua 4:1-9 (verses 4-7: “So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” When our children were healed of anaphylaxis, wow – did that increase my faith in God’s ability to heal people.
3. Intentionally surround yourself with people of outrageous faith who believe God can do the impossible.
4. Read stories in the Bible and current life stories of miracles. Ten years ago, friends commented that my faith had skyrocketed. Several reasons for this, not the least that our family devoured autobiographies of people of faith. Missionaries who had experienced ‘life or death’ miracles. We believed that if God could do that for them, He would do that for us.
5. Worship God. Give God His worth.
6. Thank God in advance for the outcome.
7. Speak in tongues. When I speak in tongues, my inner man increases and my belief in all things become possible increases.
8. Step out and start praying for the impossible. Look for and pray for healing and miracles.

Is there a current area in your parenting that needs a miracle? What can you do to see a change occur? I would love to hear. Please feel free to comment below.