How To Pray For Your Kids

Helpful list here from J.D. and Kim Crowley:

Faith

1. Grant them a heart of repentance from sin.

1. Give them faith in Christ from an early age.

1. Fill them with your Holy Spirit, and may they bear the fruit of the Spirit.

1. Lead them to be baptized into your church.

1. Make them members of a strong church with godly elders.

1. Give them spiritual gifts for use in the church, and help them faithfully use them.

1. Lead them always to increase in holiness.

1. Keep them within the orthodox faith of Christ and the apostles.

1. Protect them from false teachers and false teaching.

1. Make them fruitful proclaimers of the gospel, filled with love for all.

1. Make them humbly committed to daily prayer.

1. Give them hunger for daily Bible reading.

1. Fill them with love and forbearance toward others.

1. Help them endure trials with faith and joy.

1. Help them guard their conscience.

1. May their lives be like the sun that rises stronger and stronger until the full of day.

Wisdom

1. Give them hearts that constantly overflow with thankfulness.

1. Make them peacemakers.

1. Give them a vocation/skill/work that provides for their family and is useful to society.

1. Give them a sense of purpose and joy in their life work.

1. Rescue them from the fear of man.

1. Provide for them a good education.

1. Help them apply themselves diligently to their studies and other work.

1. Rescue them from laziness and dishonesty.

Influences and Relationships

1. May they be quick to forgive.

1. Give them godly friends all their lives who will influence them to love God.

1. Give them godly influences from “uncles and aunts” and “substitute parents,” especially as our influence wanes.

1. Don’t let them go through a time of teenage rebellion.

1. Help them remain pure and enter marriage as virgins.

1. May they marry only strong believers.

1. Save, sanctify, and bless their future spouse.

1. Keep divorce away from their lives and their children’s lives for many generations.

1. Give them the gift of children and the grace to raise them up in the faith of Christ.

1. If they are to remain single, make them unusually fruitful for God’s kingdom.

1. Protect them from predators.

1. Protect them from deviant sexual desires.

Physical

1. Heal and protect them from sicknesses and diseases.

1. Protect them from accidents.

1. Give their country peace in their lifetime.

Learning To See Beauty and Error

(HT)

Is Easter Too Violent for Kids?

Russell Moore:

Our children need to hear the Gospel. They need to see Jesus. That means they need to see both sides of skull place. That’s graphic, sure. It’s confusing, of course. And not just for kids. But it is the only message that saves. It’s the only message that prepares one for salvation. It is, as Paul says, that which is “of first importance,” the message he received from Jesus Himself (1 Cor 15:3-4).

The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is the Gospel. That’s the first word. If we cannot speak of that, we would be better off not speaking of Jesus at all, rather than presenting another Christ, one who meditates but does not mediate, who counsels but is not crucified, who is accessible but not triumphant over sin and death.

The apostle Paul told us the word of the cross would be folly to those who are perishing (1 Cor 1:18). He didn’t warn us that it would sometimes also be folly to those who are publishing. No matter. It is still the power of God

This Easter, preach the Gospel… to the senior citizens, to the middle-aged, to the young adults, to the teenagers, to the seekers, to the hardened unbelievers, to the whole world. And, yes, preach the Gospel to the preschoolers.

Read the rest.

How Do You Know when Your Child Has Genuine Belief?

Greg Koukl gives a good response.

This article by Doug Wolter is also quite helpful.

How do you discern the conversion of a child?

Brian Croft:

There are commonly 2 extremes as we all wrestle with this question. The first is the careless lack of discernment of many churches who have an alter call for 4-5 year olds, ask them to raise their hand if they love Jesus, then baptize them as converted followers of Jesus. The other extreme often results from the carelessness of the first.

This extreme prevents both parents and pastors to be willing to affirm whether or not a child is truly converted until they are adults and are completely independent of their parent’s authority and care. I believe a middle ground must be approached if we truly desire to discern clear biblical evidence that a child, teenager, or young adult has become a new creature in Christ. 

Knowing we are not God and cannot see the heart, I believe there are still evidences we can see and know to help us discern a child or teenager’s conversion in a similar way we try to do the same with adults. In the spirit of Jonathan Edward’s 5 signs of true conversion, here are 5 evidences that I try to use as a template as both a parent and pastor in wrestling with this issue.

Read the rest.