This is not my child

1Kings 3:21, “And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.”

A woman slept badly and squashed her child to death. She then cleverly switched her dead child with that of her roommate who had a child of the same age. This other woman recognized that her child had been switched and took the matter to King Solomon for help. Most parents don’t!

You must notice the slightest change in character in your child and when you do, contend for your child in prayer. You must realize that God did not give you a rebellious child. God did not give you a drug addict for a child. That child in the occult is not the one you delivered; he has been switched and you must take the matter to the King of kings and Lord of lords and seek for his intervention.

God did not give you a dead child; yours is alive and any semblance of death should be resisted firmly in prayer.

However, you can prevent your child from being switched or stolen. You can protect the destiny of your child from being bought, stolen or distorted.

You start even before the child is conceived. If you are single and you ever intend to get married, start praying for your would-be spouse and children long before you get married and start to have children. Pray intensely for them before they are born. Pray for them before you will need to pray for them.

If you don’t, both your husband and your children can be switched or stolen.

Your child can end up in the wrong hands.

Your child can end up in the hands of a killer like this woman.

Your child can end up in the hands of a thief like this woman.

Your child can end up in the hands of someone who does not care about the life of the child. The woman who stole the child did not mind the living child being killed and sliced into two.

Your child can end up in the hands of a drug addict and his life will be wrecked.

Your child can even end up marrying his or her enemy who will come disguised as a lover just like this child ended up in the hands of a fake mother. The last thing you want is for a fake mother to raise your children or for your child to marry a fake person.

Your child can end up in prison.

5 Things to Pray for Your Kids BEFORE You Need To

Sometimes there are practical steps that can be taken, at other times there is little that can be done as a ‘quick fix’ to make up for years of neglect in parenting and prayer. And yet, prayer is still the best option.

I have seen mothers calling and asking for hot and heavy prayers for their kids in the heat of the moment because of some trouble they were in, or some major decision they had to make.

While no child comes with any guarantees, here are five things to pray regularly for your children no matter their age (but especially while they are young) – things we easily forget to pray fervently about until the time comes that we need to.

Pray in advance about:

1.  Their Soul

In the end, nothing else matters in our prayers for our kids if we don’t pray first and foremost for their salvation. God has called us as parents to be the #1 factor in their lives that lead them to Him and ultimately to Heaven. That is definitely a task that requires the ongoing power of prayer.

Pray: Father, save the souls of all our children; write their names in the book of life and seal their souls with the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus! Amen.

2.  Their Heart

Apart from their soul, nothing else is as valuable, or as vulnerable, as their heart. Put a high price on protecting their heart, for out of it are the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23). One of the best ways to protect your child’s heart is by protecting what influences their mind. (What they watch and read, the amount of time they spend online, who their friends are, etc.) We need to pray that God would not only help their hearts to be good, but that He would protect their hearts from evil. Pray that God would give them a humble heart, a servant’s heart and a heart that pursues God, and is passionate about the things that are closest to the heart of God Himself. Because a pure heart is their greatest asset to making wise choices for the rest of their life.

Pray:

a)      Father, protect the hearts of all our children from all negative influences; from peer pressure, TV junk, online junk and from all evil, in the name of Jesus! Amen.

b)      Father, give them pure and humble hearts. Give them a servant’s heart and a heart that pursues God. Give them a heart that is passionate about the things that are closest to the heart of God, in the name of Jesus! Amen.

3.  Their Life’s Mate

Second only to salvation, who your child chooses to marry is the most important decision they will ever make in their life. God has called you, as their parent, to be a big part of that decision. All throughout Scripture, we see examples of parents involvement both practically and through prayer, for God’s will to be performed in the person their child marries. This involves praying for their purity as well. The time to pray and prepare your child for a lifetime of purity and a life’s mate is now.

Pray: Father, guide them in the choice of their life partner. Please choose their soul mate that you have prepared from the foundation of the world. Let them not marry their enemy; let them marry the person you have chosen for them; someone that will complete them and help each other fulfil their divine destinies, in the name of Jesus! Amen.

(To be continued next week…)

Bishop Dr. Charles Olowojoba is the General Overseer of Dayspring Bible Church Worldwide with HQ in Abuja, Nigeria & President, Dayspring Christian Ministries Int’l.