Mom Heart Moments #200

The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry.

BABIES ARE DEPENDENT ON US for their very existence —our milk, our protection, our love and care, every moment of every day. When we answer their cries with tenderness and love, it helps them trust, and eventually they relate to the idea that God is also One who responds to their cries.

God has designed new babies to be fragile, so we can put an imprint of God’s very hands and love and grace into their hearts and minds. In feeling our love, they become predisposed to know and believe in His love and touch when they hear stories about Him.

When we are new parents of young children, we have a sense that we are in control of their lives —that what we do and how we control them will determine what they will become.

However, as my children grew, I realized that apart from God’s working deep in their souls, they will not follow righteousness. I cannot control their lives or their circumstances, and they must make their own decisions. There is a dark world of temptation, idolatry, despair, and immorality calling to them at every point. But I am not left helpless or hopeless. I can have a big impact on their lives and help shoulder their burdens every day.

Even as I read about how Jesus so often would pray all night, consider how He prayed specifically for Peter before he was tempted to deny Him, and reflect on the loving, tender words of prayer in John 17, I know that I must model my life after His. There is One who works directly within my children’s hearts, One whose fingertips will mold and shape them: the Holy Spirit. My work is to mysteriously engage with Him before God’s throne, and it is there that the life of my children will bloom afresh.

What are you praying for your children? Write down one thing for each child, and commit to approaching God’s throne in confidence daily for the next few weeks.