Pray Without Ceasing

Jake came home from our school's board meeting a couple of weeks ago with a handout. Another member was in charge of devotion for that night and passed these out. I had to share because I thought it was something very simple, yet practical and profound! I love things like that! There is a list of about 20 different things that we should be praying for our children each day and a scripture reference to go along with each topic. These (and I'm not going to list all 20 here) are excerpted from the book by Donna Otto: The Stay at Home Mom: For Women at Home & Those Who Want to Be.

"Without prayer, anything else you do to influence your children for Jesus is feeble at best....

*Pray that your child will fear the Lord and serve Him (Deut. 6:13).
*Pray that your children will be caught when guilty (Ps. 119:71). (This one really struck me! It's so obvious and something I truly desire for my girls, but had never really prayed for specifically.)
*Pray that your children and their prospective mates will be kept pure until marriage (I Cor. 6:18-20).
*Pray that your children will be hedged in so they cannot find their way to wrong people or places, and that wrong people cannot find their way to your children (Hos. 2:6-7).
*Pray that your children will have quick, repentant hearts (Ps. 51:1-3).
*Pray that your children will be teachable and able to take correction (Prov. 13:1).
*Pray that your children's lives will bear the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23)."

I tend to get distracted and off-course when I'm praying, particularly when I pray for my children. I know this is Satan's attempt to ensure that my children go un-prayed for. This simple list helps me stay focused and makes me feel like I've covered all my bases, so to speak.