I pray to the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray to the Lord my soul to take. These are the words to the first prayer my mother taught me almost 30 years ago. I also can recall my very first Easter speech and I vividly remember the time my mother made me get in front of the church to pray on Youth Sunday with no warning or preparation. There I was dressed in all white, looking perplexed, asking her what was I supposed to say? She simply replied “Just pray like you do at home.” With no other choice, because mama didn’t take no for an answer, I went to the front of the church and recited the Lord’s Prayer on bended knee, followed by “God bless my mama and my daddy, my sisters and brothers…” These memories will always be with me and I’m thankful to God for my mother laying the spiritual foundation on which my faith stands today. At the time, I was grudgingly doing what I was told, but my mother was sowing seeds. She was, and still is, a steadfast believer in the Word of God; and she held firm to Proverbs 22:6 – “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”As a parent of two, I have followed suit with teaching my children how to say their prayers and how to say grace before eating. My son is a stickler too. Everyone has to be at the table at the same time before we say grace, and if someone decides to join us later, we have to say it all over again. Plus, we have to bless every item including the juice, milk and ketchup. My daughter is not even two and she already chimes in at night when saying prayers and she is a huge fan of “This Little Light of Mine.” She sings the song and does an interpretive praise dance all at the same time. As a father, it makes my heart glad to see my children learning the way of the Lord at such a young age and I plan to continue to nurture their growth until they are old enough to make their own decisions.
For me, teaching my children about the Lord is a no brainer. My faith is the foundation of my morals, values and beliefs, and I want my children to have the same set of values when faced with the wiles of this world. What is perplexing to me though, is how those who say they were brought up in the church, those who say they know the Lord and that they pray, like it is a badge of honor, do not go to church as an adult, and even worse, they deprive their children from developing a relationship with the Lord.
I continue to be fascinated at how people can have their children involved in Jack and Jill, little league, ballet, ice skating, gymnastics and AAU Sports, but yet they neglect to teach their children to have a relationship with the Lord. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great to have children involved in these extracurricular activities, but without a spiritual foundation, it’s all for not. If the parents are unbelievers, case closed, I have no beef. However, if the parents claim to be believers, if they value the faith that was once instilled in them, the faith that they revert back to in times of trouble, why wouldn’t they cultivate their children to have their own relationship? The world in which we live is tough, and I could not imagine trying to face these obstacles and stresses without being able to go to the Rock of my salvation.
If you are a believer, I challenge you today to rekindle your own relationship with the Lord and to foster your children to develop one of their own. I guarantee that it is an investment that will pay off an eternal reward.
5 comments:
I love the scripture that you use. Because as I look at youth today that are not being trained. Parents are not being parents anymore they are being friends to their children.
Ryan-
I totally agree with you, and for me it comes without second thought to give. Yes we will bless the food before we eat at home or out (I am not ashamed to ask for my Blessing!) Yes my neice has to pray before leaving the house for school; albiet sometimes it's like pulling teeth, yes I have my young praise dancers pray when we are at practice. No you dont have a choice in if you want to go to church! Whether its with me or if a church member picks you up. i can remember times when my mom would send us to church if she was ill. The saints would come pick me and my sisters up and bring us back home! I'm the same way; and trust me if I miss church im REAL sick! Its something about the assemblying of the Saints that does something for me! I teach my neice and my daughters by example or try to anyway! I cant tell them to call on the elders of the church if im not doing it; or to pray without ceasing and they never hear me praying; or giving God thanks....Atleast I know they have a strong foundation. I think it would be unfair to not expose this younger generation to the same (or better(when you know better you do better)) Spiritual guidance that we had as Children. Great post! Thanks for sharing!!!!!
Ryan-
The act of communicating with God on daily basis is somewhat lost. I appreciate you bringing up the subject because it is only through prayer that we establish and build our relationship with God. Your walk down memory rekindled my up bringing as well and our Mothers were and are truly a blessing. We are never too young or too old to pray and give God thanks.
Beautiful! And gives folks something to think about in terms of their priorities with their children. Love you, dude!!!
Nice post! Very sweet. Eli has always said our blessing, since he could talk. Trying to write them down so we'll always remember. But maybe I should tape them. Wish I'd done that when he was 3! He used to always begin: Dear God, this is the best day of my life! (every day was the best day of his life) Now, he begins: Father, son, holy spirit. Amen. Dear God, Thank you for this day. I've really enjoyed it....and then he goes on for about a minute about all kinds of things: )
Blessings,
Lisa
Post a Comment