21 Days of Prayer-Day 3

Integrity

Someone who stands up for what is right no matter who they are with.

Thought: We can’t give our sons something we don’t have. Look back over the last week or month of your life. One of the BEST things we can do for our sons is admit when we’ve sinned and ask them to forgive us for it. Show your sons the power of humility and use every opportunity, even your failures, to teach them to walk in the truth. What a wonderful God we serve, Who allows even our sin to draw our sons closer to Him!

“He who is steadfast in righteousness will attain to life…” Proverbs 11:19

Today's Integrity Prayers:
For more of the Obedience Prayers please purchase the Warrior Prayers ebook here.

*My my child walk before You, as David his father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that God has commanded him, and keeping His statues and His rules (1 Kings 9:4).

* Till he dies, may my child never put away his integrity (Job 27:5).

* May my child ponder the way that is blameless and walk with integrity of heart within God's house (Psalm 101:2).

* May my child show himself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in his teaching show integrity, dignity (Titus 2:7).

Integrity Defined

1. Firm adherance to a code of especially moral or artistic values. (incorruptability)

2. Unimpaired Condition. (soundness)

3. The quality or state of being of being complete or undivided.

The man of integrity is one who makes it his constant rule to follow the road of duty, according as truth and the voice of his conscience point it out to him. He is not guided merely by affections which may some time give the color of virtue to a loose and unstable character.
The upright man is guided by a fixed principle, which destines him to do nothing but what is honorable, and to abhor whatever is base or unworthy, hence we find him ever the same, - at all times the trusty friend, the affectionate relative, the conscientious man of business, the pious worker, the public-spirited citizen.
He assumes no borrowed appearance. He seeks no mask to cover him, for he acts no studied part; but he is indeed what he appears to be, - full of truth, candor, and humanity. In all his pursuits, he knows no path but the fair, open, and direct one, and would much rather fail of success than attain if by reproachable means. He never shows us a smiling countenance while he meditates evil against us in his heart. We shall never find one part of his character at variance with another. ~David Dennnger

Prayer: “Lord God, maker of men of integrity, let me find men of integrity that I may walk with, grow with, and extend the Kingdom of Your Son with in my work place.”

Tree of Life

I love trees.

Grounded...

Majestic...

Unique...

Deeply rooted into the earth...

Taking solace in the dust and finding nutrients beneath the surface...

Knit together with twisting and stretching...yet beauty remains...

They remind me of our homes....a place one finds themselves comfortable and natural...

Somewhere to come back to...to find one's origin...the beginning

They linger long...

Pass generations of time...

Like families there are many parts that work together, branching off but staying connected...

God being the Earth...

Christ the trunk...

Us the branches...

(the leaves collecting the light and giving life to the church, which give praise to God, through Christ)

The picture remarkable...

It was by a tree that the apple was given life that took Adam's life...

I consider Christs death upon a "tree"...

From the heart of the tree came the wood in which His hands were nailed...

The tree gives life...

Takes life...

Is the essence of life...

We, the born again believers, the Trees of Righteousness...

21 Days of Prayer-Day Two

Submission to Authority

Thought: When was the last time you told your son you were proud of a choice he made to submit to authority. Even when they’re little, our boys need to know that mama sees and rejoices over their wise choices and cries out to God over their foolish ones. Today, make a point to lavish love and praise on your son when he chooses wisely..even in the small things.

“But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.” ~Acts 5:29

Today's Submission Prayers:
For more of the Obedience Prayers please purchase the Warrior Prayers ebook here.

* May my child obey his leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over his soul, as those who will have to give an account. Let him do this with joy and not with groaning (Hebrews 13:17).

*May my child submit himself therefore to God. May he resist the devil, so he will flee from him (James 4:7).

*My my child submit to laborers of the Gospel and to everyone who joins in the work (I Corinthians 16:16).

* May my child submit to others out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 5:21).

Working it Out:
taken from MiddleTree.net

Just for fun, play a game, perhaps checkers, with a child and try skirting around the rules. Usually, he or she will argue with you about how “you’re not supposed to do that.” Kids go through a stage, beginning around 2 or 3, where the rules are everything. For several years after that, they have a sense of order in the world, and an understanding that their place in it is one of submission to authority.

Wait a minute, you say. Everyone who has been a parent of a 12-year-old will want to argue about this. You may point out that kids this age tend to begin to believe they are above this parental authority thing. But that is precisely my point. At an age where kids are becoming adults, one of the first things to go is that respect for authority. This is a crystal-clear example of why Jesus said to put aside our pride and return to these childlike qualities.

Authority in the Home

1. Authority in the home is ordained by God.

Husbands have authority over wives.

Ephesians 5:22-24 The wife should obey her husband

1 Corinthians 11:3 The head of the woman is the man

1 Peter 3:1,5-6 Women should be subject to their husbands as Sarah was to Abraham.

Parents have authority over children.

Proverbs 1:8 A son should hear his father's instruction and not forsake his mother's law.

Deuteronomy 21:18-21 A son, who would not obey his parents, was to be stoned.

Luke 2:51 Jesus set the example for children by being subject to His earthly parents.

Colossians 3:20 Children should obey their parents.

2. Authority produces cooperation and organization in the Home.

Romans 13:1-6; 1 Peter 2:13,14

Ephesians 6:5-8; 1 Peter 2:18

3. Authority allows children to benefit from parents wisdom and experience.

By reason of experience, parents generally have more wisdom than children.

Proverbs 29:15 A child left to himself (unsupervised) will cause shame.

Proverbs 4:10-12 - Because of his parents' instructions, the child is wiser.

Giving children a sense of security.

4. Authority molds children's character and habits.

Training children develops character they will maintain even when older.

Proverbs 22:6 Properly trained children will not depart from their training

5. Parental authority teaches children proper attitudes towards all authority.

The Gospel Way

More on Obedience and Children

Shaping influences of our modern society upon the family

Here are a number of false concepts that the modern society has produced. Each goes counter to what God’s Word teaches here in Ephesians 6:1-4. Later on, each wrong concept will be revealed as we dangle it before the truth of God’s Word here.

My main responsibility as a parent is to give my children the best education possible.
Children know what they should do. I do not need to interfere with their lives.
I can’t understand my children so I don’t get involved.
Physical discipline is unfair and can be abusive. I don’t use it.
Parents and children should be able to make the best decisions together.
Parents have a right to get real angry at how their child disregards their wishes.
Children need to learn independence early in life. We need to give them that freedom.
If you make children do what they don’t want, they will be emotionally scarred.
I like to give my child his own choice so I don’t tell him what he should believe.
We know what he watches is not best, but what can we do about it?
That is the way children are nowadays. (sigh).

We have one chance, parents. We need to hold up God’s commands even if it goes counter to what you believe or think is best. God knows better. If you do well, then your children will live godly lives, be blessed and be enabled to help others in this valuable process. If you refuse, for love of wealth or lack of belief, then you and your children will suffer. God’s promise remains with us.

Remarks about the above statements:

So let’s look through at the mistaken notions mentioned above and state why they are wrong based on what we have today studied in God’s Word.

False: My main responsibility as a parent is to give my children the best education possible.

True: The apostle says nothing about education except that they should be trained in God’s ways. If the parent fails here, it will have eternal impact both on the parents as well as the children. Education falls into a distant second place here. We will probably not even be asked what university we graduated from in heaven. Have we instructed our children in the way of the Lord?

False: Children know what they should do. I do not need to interfere with their lives.

True: Children are born sinners. They need to be instructed to obey and need their lives to be shaped by outward constraint and instruction in the word of life.
I can’t understand my children so I don’t get involved.

False: It is the duty of parents to be closely involved in the child’s life so that these children obey them.

True: How can we teach them if we do not know them? How can we live together and not know them? If we do not understand them, we will provoke them to anger. Know them so that you can instruct them in the Lord’s ways.

False: Physical discipline is unfair and can be abusive. I don’t use it.

True: One aspect of training is discipline which includes chastisement. It is used at strategic times to help the children learn how to avoid doing wrong things and prepare them to embrace instruction. Fathers are commanded to discipline them as needed in order to accomplish a greater and glorious goal.

False: Parents and children should be able to make the best decisions together.

True: Children are to obey their parents. They are not to make independent decisions that in any way counter their parents’ decisions. There are many decisions where voting does not work and therefore ‘voting’ should not be used. Parents are the authority.

False: Parents have a right to get real angry at how their child disregards their wishes.

True: Fathers often exasperate their children when they burst out in anger. This shows that the parent is not really seeking the well-being of the child but is self-seeking and seeking to solve his own irritation. If a father sees his children as constantly misbehaving, he should look and see if he is neglecting what is here instructed.

False: Children need to learn independence early in life. We need to give them that freedom.

True: It is critical that children learn to obey their parents, not to make decisions independent from their parents. This is the opposite to wisdom. True freedom accompanies responsibility. As children show obedience, then they can gain more freedom.

False: If you make children do what they don’t want, they will be emotionally scarred.

True: Emotionally scarring might come from a father who provokes the child to anger. This is completely different than how a father through correction, positive training and instruction in the Lord shapes the child in a way that they can do well in their lives.

False: I like to give my child his own choice so I don’t tell him what he should believe.

True: We must instruct our children in the way of the Lord. Why would we not memorize God’s Word and plant it deep in their hearts? If we are corrupted with a modern mentality, we might neglect to give our children one of the greatest assets that we have as Christian parents. We want them make wise decisions, not to follow the world into hell. We want them to love the ways of the Lord, not to have a liking for what God considers as evil and wrong.

False: We know what our child watches is not best, but what can we do about it?

True: We shape the child’s experiences so that God’s truth and love are lived out to them. We protect them from the norms of the society which are a mass of advertisements to love and die with the world. We train them. We have great goals of righteousness, godly fear and a heart of love as a goal for our children.

False: That is the way children are nowadays. (sigh)

True: Children are the way they are not because of our complex urban society, but because we have not abided by the commands that Paul the Apostle has set for us. We need to start thinking what kind of children we want and so train them. Hold back other things so that you can make time for what is good and lovely. For example, why not have your child make something with you for another sick person rather than just having him or her play computer games or involve themselves in Instant Messaging (IM).

Summary

The disease of modernism has entered the church. Paul shows how we can clean it out of our parenting perspectives. We are wise if we do it. Children, don’t believe that the world’s ways is better. The apostle has set before you the great way to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Learn by faith to trust God’s judgment here and you like David will be highly favored by God. I wish for each of you to prize God’s commands and find that they are swords for battling the evil one so that we can live out the ways of our gracious Lord. Few people have delighted in obedience as Jesus. The world needs more of them. Be one.

Taken from Foundations for Freedom.

21 Days of Prayer-Day One

Obedience

As we pray for our sons to have obedient hearts today, let’s examine our own, and ask our Savior to help us live out His great love for us so that our sons will see how truly valuable it is.

Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” ~John 14:21

Lord, please soften my son's heart and place the desire within him to obey his parents in the Lord, for this is right. Help him to honor his father and mother, that it may go well with him and that he might live long in the land. And help me to embrace a lifestyle of obedience, so that my life might be an example to him. Give me a new vision for teaching and training my son in obedience. Amen

Today's Obedience Prayers:
For more of the Obedience Prayers please purchase the Warrior Prayers ebook here.

*Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, may my child (by name) obey the Lord our God...so that it will go well with him (Jeremiah 42:6).

*May my child obey his parents in the Lord, for this is right (Ephesians 6:1).

*May my child obey his leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over his soul, as those who will have to give an account. Let my child do this with joy and not with groaning (Hebrews 13:17).

*My my child return to the Lord His God, and obey with all his heart and all his soul and all the commands God has given (Deuteronomy 30:2).

The teaching of obedience provides one of the most glorious opportunities to prove the Gospel message to our sons. If our boys never learn the importance of obeying and the inability to obey by themselves, how will they ever recognize their need for a Savior?

Ephesians 6 provides great encouragement as to the necessity of Obedience.

Brooke provides a great quote:
"If your man cannot submit to Jesus, he cannot lead you. A man must be willing to be led before he can truly lead." (Tommy Nelson, Love and Romance Conference)

I'm excited, although the path is sometimes rough and Satan seeks to destroy, to hold fast to prayer over my boys and teach them obedience God's way.

Here are some neat questions to ponder while thinking about Obedience God's way.

Bible Study Questions

See the article on Ephesians 6:1-4 for answers.

Who are children told to obey?
What does obey mean?
How should a child respond to his parents command if he doesn’t feel like obeying his parents?
What makes a child’s obedience so important - “this is right?”
How does ‘honor’ different from ‘obey’?
How old should a person obey and honor his parents? What principles apply here?
What is the promise that is associated with the command here (Ephesians 6:2-3)?
How does obedience relate to having a good life and living long?
What are the three things fathers are told to do in Ephesians 6:4?
What does it mean not to ‘provoke your children to anger?’ How does it happen. Share an incident from your life if possible you provoked or were provoked.
Why might he address the fathers here in Ephesians 6:4 and not the mothers?
What does the word ‘discipline’ mean in Ephesians 6:4? Why does the world reject this aspect of discipline when training?
What kind of instruction is mentioned here? How can parents implement this? Again, share from your experiences.

Go here for discussion concerning these questions!

Identifying Discontent

The lights are low and the night has fallen. My children wait anxiously for our final prayer of the night and the Amen that sends us to peaceful rest.

True understand of Christ's path to the Cross is yet to sink deep in them but they Do Know He Died for them. To save them from Sin and give them Heaven. Their understanding while simple is pure. They LOVE Him because they must. Their nature longs to worship Him. He died for them. He must be important. He must be Love.

I stand in awe of their unfaltering love. As they emphatically exchange with the neighbor about the truth of God and Jesus' love. His avoidance says much.

They are unashamed. Content in His love.

Am I the same?

Devotions for Lent sits in my lap and I ponder whether they will understand what I read to them and I quickly pray for the Lord to speak to their hearts while the mind might falter behind.

We read...

"The tradition of Lent--a forty-day sacrifice--is one way of mourning the death that sin has caused in our lives. As we see Jesus perfectly withstand Satan's temptation in the wilderness, we admit our own shortcomings, our own inadequate sacrifices. This period of "giving up" has a profound way of recalling our desperate need for Jesus Christ."

I peer up from the pages. Their sweet faces peering back at me from their bunk bed railings. Two bodies per bed, stuffed between the sheets...they want to be together...whatever the cost.

Do I feel this way for Jesus....whatever the cost?

I tell them more of Jesus' temptation in the desert and explain the "giving up" to remember Him.
He trialled against Satan in those 40 days. Completely gave himself over, denied flesh, relied on God, and held tight to the Hope of the Resurrection.

My oldest, only five short years old, heading into his sixth year in only months ahead, immediately tells me he can give up Movies..."hmmm, for five days".

I am Humbled...

He, the man child, grasped the "giving up" and was willing. More discussion and remembering the littlest ones, we decided candy would be the thing to go for five days. They agreed, not at first, but with time and encouragement.

Friday's dawn began their Lent and their hearts were soft with no begging or discussion. 1 simple reminder and they relented the desire. No talk of it since. The freely gave to Him what they held so dear (sadly Candy is dear).

Even the small can remind us to press on and live loudly the Love of Jesus.

Again from the book...

"The season of Lent is puzzling to many. Denying ourselves our favorite treats or habits--even for a short time--seems archaic in our I-want-it-now culture. ...It's a season marked by deliberateness and intentionality. The practice of Lent can be a valuable discipline. It's difficult to grasp what our sense of entitlement does to our bodies and souls. Our culture worships at the feet of pleasure. As we "shovel it in", we can become desensitized to our needs--the real hungers in our lives."

"People do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." ~Deuteronomy 8:3

"It invites us to jump off the hamster wheel of consumption and experience the pinch of abstaining from thoughtless indulgence. " ~Eileen Button (Devotions for Lent)

She compares the glorious, hollow, chocolate, Easter Cross to our own lives. Sweet and pretty on the outside, but "tragically empty".

We prayed

Great and holy God
awe and reverence
fear and trembling
do not come easily to us
for we are not
Old Testament Jews
or Moses
or mystics
or sensitive enough.
Forgive us
for slouching into Your presence
with little expectation
and less awe
than we would eagerly give a visiting dignitary.
We need
neither Jehovah nor a buddy--
neither "the Great and Powerful Oz" nor "the man upstairs."
Help us
to want what we need...
You
God
and may the altar of our hearts
tremble with delight
at
Your visitation
amen.

~Frederick Ohler

"Occasionally, the reality of Jesus Christ's sacrifice and the power of his love break through our hardened hearts. The realization causes us to gasp. The hollow parts of our souls can be filled." ~Eileen Button