praying effectively: Respect Parents and Children (Eph.6:1-4)

(Ephesians 6:1-4)  Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3 so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.

4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Reminder:  "praying effectively" involves knowing God's will.  When we pray in His will (in His name), He may choose to not answer those prayers in the time period that we would like, or HOW we would like - but He will answer those prayers!

It is God's will:

- that unless they want you to do something that is not God's will, children should obey their parents in the Lord (6:1)

- that we honor our parents (6:2-3)

- that we do not provoke our children to anger (6:4)

- that we bring our children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (6:4) 

Today's prayer:

 

Dear heavenly Father, thank You for being our example of a perfect parent.  Help us to strive towards being like You when we are raising our children.  Give us wisdom in knowing how and when to discipline them.  Help us use each opportunity as a teaching moment, without exasperating them.  And when they become adults, give us wisdom to know when and how to advise them.  

All the while, help us as parents remain loving and patient.  Help us know how much space we should give them, and when and how we should allow them to make their own decisions and mistakes.  Guide us in being good examples of how we should keep looking to You and trusting in Your for everything.  So when we as parents do something wrong, help us to be humble enough to apologize to our children.

Help us to submit to our parents!  Help us realize that our parents want the best for us, and want to protect us.  As parents get older, give us wisdom and understanding, so we will continue to treat them with respect, all with Your patience, love and grace.  Amen.