I found this prayer the other day that is incredible for us to pray over ourselves as parents and also for our children. There was not an author on it but the contents of it is taken straight from the word of God.
“Daily Confession of Faith”
In Christ I am anointed and a powerful person of God.
I am a joint-heir with Jesus and more than a conqueror.
I am a doer of the Word of God and a channel for His blessings.
If God be for me, who can be against me?
I am blessed coming in and I am blessed
Going out. My enemies are fleeing before me. God has commanded
His blessing on my storehouses. He has opened His
Good treasures and I shall lend and not borrow.
I am the head and not the tail.
He has given me power to make wealth.
I dwell in the secret place I have
His protection and provision. God is my refuge, my fortress
I am not afraid of the snare of the fowler. No
Evil shall befall me and no plague shall come nigh
My dwelling. God has given his angels
Charge over me and they are bearing me up in their hands lest
I dash my foot against a stone, as declared in Psalms 91.
I Peter 2:9 establishes I am a chosen generation,
A royal priesthood, a holy nation.
I am a peculiar person called out of darkness
Into His marvelous light.
I Peter 2:24 states, I have been healed by the stripes of Jesus.
Cancer, sugar diabetes, heart disease, sickness,
Afflictions, infections, or any other disease can not enter my body.
I am without spot or blemish,
An intercessor, the righteousness of God, saved, and washed in the
Blood of Jesus.
“No weapon formed against me shall prosper, and every tongue
Which rises against me in judgment You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their
Righteousness is from Me," Says the LORD.
I am saved from wrath by Him and justified
by the Blood of the Lamb.
Lord I pray that those may prosper that love Jerusalem and that peace will be within them and prosperity in their houses according to Psalms 122:6-9.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!
(Author Unknown)
I hope this encourages you today as it has for me!
April Thomas
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
The School Year has Officially Started!
The 2009-2010 school year has officially started! As parents, Allan and I have been praying over Austin and his second grade year and Austin has also used his prayer card to pray over his school year, staff and friends. So as I hugged and kissed him this morning on his first day I had the peace and comfort of my Jesus that he is going to have a great year and be in the safe and protective arms of my Lord and Savior! I also declare in Jesus name that he will be a light in the dark places and be a living testimony for Jesus! There is power in the words we speak over our children! "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6. Pray for your children to be leaders and not followers, that they will influence other children and teachers with the love of Christ that is in them, not follow those that have not come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. As my pastor said not long ago, "Beware of the beautiful side of evil". Those words are so true. Your children are never too young nor too old to have your prayer covering surrounding them. Pray over everything they want to do or participate in and who they want to do it with because God is all knowing and knows the beginning and end. Although it may seem harmless, it may not be Gods plan for them or send them in a direction that is not His will. If we pray I know God will keep us from harm and pour out His blessings on us for obeying Him. I encourage you today and everyday, as Ephesians 6:10 says, "Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might."
Blessings,
April Thomas
Blessings,
April Thomas
Thursday, August 6, 2009
The Serenity Prayer for Parents and Children
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next. Amen. By Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)
God has really been speaking to me through this prayer for the last few days. First about us as parents praying this prayer for ourselves. As parents, when our children are faced with adversity of any kind we have the tendency to swoop in and fix their problems (self included!). If we never allow our children to problem solve on their own then they will never learn this life tool for themselves, I also believe that in some children it will give way to low confidence, low self-esteem, and timidity. As stated in the previous blog entry, we need to pray a spirit of Boldness over our children. We need to encourage them first to pray about the problem (the Serenity Prayer would come in here good), then encourage them to solve the problem themselves first. Then if the problem becomes more than they can handle, that is when we should step in, and of course their are problems that are not for our children to handle, we need to pray for discernment over the problem. We are our children's spiritual covering, God placed us in authority over them, which is why it is so important to keep our children covered in prayer. By doing so we can defeat the enemy and his plans to steal, kill, and destroy. The enemy hates a praying parent because we have power through God and His word. We also need to pray for a spirit of Boldness for ourselves, in our parenting, and in speaking the word over our children.
Second, the Serenity Prayer is also an excellent prayer for our children to pray for themselves. For children, the abbreviated form of the prayer that is mostly used will be easier for them to learn: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference." For them to understand what they are praying you can break the verse down and explain it to them as follows: (this is my interpretation, God may reveal something more to you.)
1. God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.
explanation: There are somethings in this world we have to give to God and He will handle it as He wills. We can pray about it, but it is not ours to do something about it.
example: Your friends parents are getting a divorce and your friend is very sad about it. You cannot change the fact that they have chosen to divorce but you can be there for your friend and you can give it to God and pray for the family. Only He can change the situation if it is His will and the parents submit to His will because God gave us a free will.
2. Courage to change the things I can.
explanation: God may speak to you or you may have a pull toward something to change or make a difference in, and if God calls us he will equip us and give us the courage to accomplish His will.
example: There is a classmate that does not have any friends and is sad all the time. God may speak to you or you may really feel like you need to try and be their friend. This is something you can change and God will give you the courage to go up to that person and extend friendship to them and also the words to speak life into their life.
3. And wisdom to know the difference.
explanation: If we pray about it, God will let us know if it is something we can change or not. He is all knowing, which means He knows better then we do.
example: When I taught my Children's Church kids "How to hear the voice of God" by Becky Fisher, they learned that when we get a thought in our mind, or a feeling about something, a good way to know if it is from God is by what is called the Red, Yellow, and Green light like a traffic light. Red light is a yucky, scratchy feeling inside, this means Gods is telling us its not from Him. Yellow light is a confusing feeling, not sure about it, God is saying we need to stop and pray about it until we get a Red or Green light from Him. Sometimes our flesh is involved here, either it is from God and our flesh doesn't want to do it or it is not from God but our flesh really wants to do it. Last is the Green light a good, happy, or like going over the hill on a roller coaster feeling (if you like that feeling! ha ha). This means that God is saying go for it I'm preparing your way!
This word and revelation was encouraging and an eye opener for me I hope it will be for you too. Together we can make a difference in our children's life by allowing God to flow in and through us!
Blessings,
April Thomas
God has really been speaking to me through this prayer for the last few days. First about us as parents praying this prayer for ourselves. As parents, when our children are faced with adversity of any kind we have the tendency to swoop in and fix their problems (self included!). If we never allow our children to problem solve on their own then they will never learn this life tool for themselves, I also believe that in some children it will give way to low confidence, low self-esteem, and timidity. As stated in the previous blog entry, we need to pray a spirit of Boldness over our children. We need to encourage them first to pray about the problem (the Serenity Prayer would come in here good), then encourage them to solve the problem themselves first. Then if the problem becomes more than they can handle, that is when we should step in, and of course their are problems that are not for our children to handle, we need to pray for discernment over the problem. We are our children's spiritual covering, God placed us in authority over them, which is why it is so important to keep our children covered in prayer. By doing so we can defeat the enemy and his plans to steal, kill, and destroy. The enemy hates a praying parent because we have power through God and His word. We also need to pray for a spirit of Boldness for ourselves, in our parenting, and in speaking the word over our children.
Second, the Serenity Prayer is also an excellent prayer for our children to pray for themselves. For children, the abbreviated form of the prayer that is mostly used will be easier for them to learn: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference." For them to understand what they are praying you can break the verse down and explain it to them as follows: (this is my interpretation, God may reveal something more to you.)
1. God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.
explanation: There are somethings in this world we have to give to God and He will handle it as He wills. We can pray about it, but it is not ours to do something about it.
example: Your friends parents are getting a divorce and your friend is very sad about it. You cannot change the fact that they have chosen to divorce but you can be there for your friend and you can give it to God and pray for the family. Only He can change the situation if it is His will and the parents submit to His will because God gave us a free will.
2. Courage to change the things I can.
explanation: God may speak to you or you may have a pull toward something to change or make a difference in, and if God calls us he will equip us and give us the courage to accomplish His will.
example: There is a classmate that does not have any friends and is sad all the time. God may speak to you or you may really feel like you need to try and be their friend. This is something you can change and God will give you the courage to go up to that person and extend friendship to them and also the words to speak life into their life.
3. And wisdom to know the difference.
explanation: If we pray about it, God will let us know if it is something we can change or not. He is all knowing, which means He knows better then we do.
example: When I taught my Children's Church kids "How to hear the voice of God" by Becky Fisher, they learned that when we get a thought in our mind, or a feeling about something, a good way to know if it is from God is by what is called the Red, Yellow, and Green light like a traffic light. Red light is a yucky, scratchy feeling inside, this means Gods is telling us its not from Him. Yellow light is a confusing feeling, not sure about it, God is saying we need to stop and pray about it until we get a Red or Green light from Him. Sometimes our flesh is involved here, either it is from God and our flesh doesn't want to do it or it is not from God but our flesh really wants to do it. Last is the Green light a good, happy, or like going over the hill on a roller coaster feeling (if you like that feeling! ha ha). This means that God is saying go for it I'm preparing your way!
This word and revelation was encouraging and an eye opener for me I hope it will be for you too. Together we can make a difference in our children's life by allowing God to flow in and through us!
Blessings,
April Thomas
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