Prayers for my kids

When our kids began to reach school-age, we were living abroad. It was a country famous for polar opposites: a people of generosity and strong relationships, constantly threatened by robberies, muggings and carjackings.  They welcomed us with open arms, yet every house stood locked behind walls and bars. 

The threat was real, and when my husband was eventually car-jacked, it was merely our entrance into their reality. But the danger deepened when it came to sending our oldest to school.  He carries an epi-pen for anaphylactic food allergies, and in this foreign school, his teachers had never seen an epi-pen before. 

My anxiety in this context surfaced rapidly, and “unsafe” was my mantra.  Nothing was safe - not the streets, our neighborhood, the people, their school, the food.  A long commentary on this season in my life could be written, but what I hope can be helpful for this moment are the prayers I learned to pray then and still pray now regarding our kids.  

These are cries that first came from a heart overwhelmed with panic, just trying to make it through the hours; they’re not prayers from a heart that had it all figured out. Every day back then, as I sent my oldest off to school, it was an act of faith, and every day he came home, it was a gift. 

And we’re reminded, dear parent, family member, and care-giver, that it still is. If you find yourself wrapped up in inescapable anxiety over your kids, may one of these simple prayers resonate with you.

A prayer for when I’m with my children: 

Help me love them fully in the moment, because it’s really all I have.

A prayer for when I’m not with my children:

Help me release control, because I have actually never had it.

A prayer for when I sense my limitations:

Help me remember that I am just mom; only You are God. Your love, understanding, and control exceed mine.

A prayer for perspective:

Stir up a longing in me for that place where tragedy never strikes.  Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Mark 4:35-41

“Don’t you care?” is a question we ask when someone could do something but doesn’t. The question implies that they noticed an obvious problem - and perhaps they even observed others’ futile efforts to solve it - but they opted out of helping.  When that happens, it shifts the focus off of the initial issue and raises doubts about the heart of the one doing nothing. We conclude that if they cared, they would step in; therefore, they must not care.

The first time Jesus’ followers asked this question of Him, was during a storm. After a long day of teaching in parables, Jesus got into a boat with his disciples to cross to the other side of the sea. He fell asleep on the way.  When the wind and waves threatened to sink the boat, the disciples frantically woke the Son of God, who had succumbed to sheer exhaustion. I imagine them soaked and screaming, don’t you care that we are perishing? 

Threats on our well-being, natural disasters, uncontrollable forces, freak accidents - God, are you sleeping? How can you do nothing about this? At least grab a bucket and tie down the sail!  Don’t you care that we are perishing?

Wasn’t Jesus’ care the very reason he was lying there in their creaking, weathered boat in the first place? Because they were perishing. So He came that whoever would believe in Him, would not perish. 

When I question the heart of God with, Don’t you care?, I'm assuming that He must be fickle like His prophet, Jonah - uncaring and asleep on the job in the middle of a storm.  God had sent Jonah because God pitied a perishing city; God sent Jesus because He so loved the perishing world. Jonah didn’t care to bring God’s message of mercy to an enemy that might receive it; Jesus had just spent the day preaching it to a people who would reject it. Jonah fled from God’s presence; Jesus was God, present. The storm was punishment for Jonah’s disobedience; the storm would be proof of Jesus’ identity. The storm calmed when Jonah was swallowed by it; the storm calmed when Jesus spoke to it. 

Someone who cares more than Jonah has come.

“...casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7

Trials & Testing

Throughout life, it seems that the trials of my faith prove just how little of it I have. I could assume the nickname for myself that Jesus compassionately created for His disciples, “Little-faith ones”. The trying circumstances in which Jesus used this unique term are recorded in Matthew’s Gospel, and they highlight reactions to life that come much more naturally - at least to me - than faith does.

Anxiety: “Will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious…” Matthew 6:30-31. 

Draw me into dependence on You as my Father. You’re enough for today.

Fear: “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Matthew 8:26.  

Calm me as my Creator, present with me in the rocking boat.

Doubt: “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:31. 

Reassure me as my Rescuer with your reliable Word and steady hand.

Inattention: “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?...Do you not perceive? Don’t you remember the five loaves…or the seven loaves?” Matthew 16:5-12.  

Show me all your past evidence as Provider, so that I trust you right now. 

May we respond to this nickname like the apostles did in humble desperation before the Lord, “Increase our faith!” Luke 17:5.

“If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed…nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20.