The Joy of Praying with and for Our Children



The Joy of Praying with and for Our Children


"He'd be in trouble if He didn't."

Leah was seven years old. She was trying to go to sleep but began to cry, saying, “Daddy and Mommy, my tummy hurts!” Laurel and I prayed for her, but the pain intensified and she cried even harder. Finally I turned to Laurel and said, “We need to take her to the emergency room.” Still in tears, Leah yelled out, “No! I don’t want to go to the hospital. Pray for me. Jesus will heal me.”

So Laurel and I laid hands on her stomach, and prayed in Jesus’ name. The pain instantly and completely left. Leah suddenly became very calm and relaxed.
I leaned over and kissed her and said, “Leah, wasn’t that nice of Jesus to touch you and take the pain away?”
She, with eyes half closed and ready now for sleep, peacefully and quietly said, “Yeah, cause if He didn’t, He would be in trouble.” I laughed under my breath and marveled at the simple faith of a child.


“What’s happening?”

I remember my daughter Leah holding her two-year old son in her lap He was sick and crying with a high fever and in pain. With eyes red and face wet with tears he cried out to his mother and me, “What’s happening, what’s happening?” The anguish in his little face and voice was heart-wrenching.
Overwhelmed with compassion for the child I laid my hand on his head and prayed for him. The Lord healed him almost instantly as he lay in his mother’s arms. His pain left and he relaxed, now content and well.
His cry made such an impression on me that I have at times imitated him as I have approached God in moments of grief, pain, or perplexity. If my grandson’s cry so deeply touched my heart, I knew that my cry would also in the same way touch the mercy and compassion of our Lord. And so, I have on occasion looked up into the face of Jesus and cried like that child, “What’s happening? What’s happening?”
He does not always let me know what’s happening. But I know He is always there. I take comfort in God’s incomprehensible love for us His children.

A Painful Eye

Leah lives in Charleston about two and a half hours from my home near North Myrtle Beach. Last night she called me around 12:30 AM. She was in tears and agony. She said, “Dad, I need you to pray for me. It is horrible. I must have got something in my eye when I was shopping today. It feels like something under my eyelid scratching my eye. It hurts so bad, I cannot blink. I try to wash it out but it burns so bad I almost scream. Please pray for me.”
We prayed together over the phone and I prayed for the Holy Spirit to touch her eye and soothe it. After my prayer she said it felt slightly better.
We hung up the phone, and within the next half hour I received this text from her:
“Daddy, I am happy to report I can blink my eyes and I can see. I will not be going to the ER. That sand or grit or whatever was up in the top of my eye about five minutes ago rolled right on out of my eye and watered down my cheek. My eye is well now. I love you so much, and thank you as always for your prayers.”

We should pray with and for our children. They need to see God's hand at work. They need to know they can call on the Lord as they face the life that's before them.

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