Claiming my children for the kingdom of God
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5
My heart has been heavy lately for my children. It wasn’t until I had children that I began to understand what love really is. God has taught me many lessons through my children. Many a “sermon” have come from what most would consider average, everyday occurrences with a mom and her children.
A few that stand out is when Caleb was real small and we were visiting my cousin who had stairs in her home. My cousin and I were upstairs and he was to have stayed downstairs with the men folk. He had crawled away and made it to the top of the stairs. I turned and saw him and was so afraid because he had stood up at the very top and was wobbling (he was just barely learning to walk). He saw me and knew he had disobeyed and decided to try to run back down the stairs in spite of me holding my arms out for him to come to me. He fell all the way to the bottom of the stairs. Thankfully he was fine and I was able to learn a lesson. You see, in our walk we quite often disobey and miss it. We find ourselves in danger and we have a choice. We can run to the open arms of our savior for protection and love or we can run away and fall down. In the end I was there to pick him up and make sure he was fine and love him and teach him that it would have been better to have obeyed to start with (after I calmed down and quit panicking that my kid had just fallen down a flight of steps).
Another simple lesson the Lord taught me when my older children were younger was a particular day when they had fought over anything and everything. Seems they could not get along for nothing that day. Then later that evening they were best of friends again. The peace in the house was a welcome relief. I was reminded about how God wants His children to love one another and get along and “play nice”. I thought it must bring Him pleasure when we do that and wondered if He ever wanted to send us to opposite ends of the “house” until we could stop bickering.
Now, my babies aren’t babies any more. Christiana is 19 years old and will very soon be a mother herself. Caleb is 17 and will graduate from high school soon. The baby Rachel is 10 and is declaring her independence more and more each day. One thing has not changed and never will. That is how much I love my children. How I agonize over them by wanting the best for them and praying that they make wise choices.
From before my children were born, I have prayed special prayers over each one of them. I have given them to the Lord and ask Him to take care of them and use them for His service. I have desired that they serve Jesus and at times I feel like I have failed miserably in that. But, I have held on to God’s promises and I will not let them go.
One that I remind God of is Isaiah 54:13- All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children. I claim Acts 16:13 – And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Of course there is the ever popular truth of Proverbs 22:6-“Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.”
I long to be able to talk spiritual things with my children. I long to see them worshiping God in spirit and in truth. I won’t give up on that. I serve notice on the enemy that he will not have my children. He is trespassing on God’s property and he has absolutely no right. God gave me a promise that my children would serve Him and the devil is being a squatter right now and he has no right. I am doing what my forefather Abraham did and staking my claim by spirit and faith.
My prayer: I build an altar before you right now God. I acknowledge that Yahweh is God. That you are God. You are Lord over my life. You are Lord over my family. You are Lord over my home. I claim the territory that you have already given me. Our lives, our children’s lives and their children. I claim the territory and I worship you!
Now with the very word that God has given me, I see in the spirit that my children are walking in the ways of God. They have a song in their heart. They have peace in their spirit. They have a joyful strength and will do mighty things for the kingdom of God their father.
Christiana Hope, Caleb Alexander and Rachel Elizabeth
