Pray For The Children Of The World

Matthew 19:13-15 -  Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” And He laid His hands on them and departed from there.

 

Jesus had been preached and healed in Galilee for a bit before He left to go to Jerusalem. Even as he began to travel …great crowds followed Him….and the Pharisees continue to question His teachings. Even the parents of children who seemingly had nothing wrong with them… brought them to Jesus.  They wanted Jesus to touch them and pray over them. The disciples saw no need for Jesus to take the time to bother with these parent’s request…but Jesus saw the benefit and stopped to touch them…taking the opportunity to remind the disciples that the simple trusting heart of these children was the key to understanding  all that he came to teach.

 

It is also a great model of how I as a parent …I should constantly lift my children up to God.  They took the time to bring their children to Jesus…even the ones that had nothing wrong with them…to have Him bless them and pray over their futures.  Praying for the children God has placed around us should be a daily passion in all of our hearts. We need to ask God to preserve that childlike faith and trust they are born with…so that life doesn’t steal all of it as they grow.

 

You don’t even need to be a parent to pray for the children of the world.  There are many orphans out there that need support….or many broken families that are too damaged to pray for their own child.  They need those of us that pray to include them in our petitions.  God knows who they are…and what they need to be protected from the pain of growing up in a damaged family…or no family at all. That is what Jesus did when He stopped to touch them…He was empowering them for what might come in the future.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that children are very important to you.  Forgive me for the times that I have been so focused on my own problems that I did not take the time to pray for my own children…or the children that walk through my classroom door each day.   Help me to find a time to include my children in my prayers every day….so that you can empower them with what they need to develop the closest relationship they can have with you.  Show me a way to boldly include the children that come through my classroom doors…and even those that might live in my community that I don’t even know.  Amen.