Parenting prayers

[vm]

FATHER,

You are patient with me.

Please help me be the same way with my kids. I know You forgive seventy times seven. I struggle with having to tell my kids something twice. Help me not to take everything so personally. I want to celebrate my kids' victories and be patient and loving when they fail. Even when they're outright rebellious, Lord, give me strength and patient persistence to love them as You do. Take my impatience and turn it into prayer.

Amen.

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FATHER,

You help me look beyond my emotions.

It feels like no one can make me as angry as my children. Why is that, Lord? Is it because I love them so deeply or because they're my kids, that I expect them to be perfect - more perfect than I am as an adult? Help me stop and look at a situation before automatically reacting to it. Help me see beyond what's been done or said to see what You're doing in my child - and me.

Amen.

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FATHER,

You relieve the pressure inside me.

You take what feels like an impossibly heavy weight and replace it with Your peace. I need that relief, Lord, that release. So, one by one, I'm casting my cares on You. Not one of them is a surprise to You. Heal the burdens of my heart. Help me put aside the worries that I never should have picked up in the first place. Free me up to be the mother my kids need, the woman You created so carefully.

Amen.

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FATHER,

You reveal my weaknesses.

What looks like frustration to me is a tool for You. When my kids push me to my limit, You can use them to teach me that my limits aren't large enough. Calm me down, so I don't miss the lessons You want to teach me, only You are perfect and never lose control, but Your Spirit is alive and moving in me, I want You to have more control over my life, especially my emotions. Slow me down.

Amen.

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FATHER,

You are always home.

Right now, I could use a friend. Funny how I turn to You only as a last resort. Why is that? You're always available. You're ready to listen. You long to spend time with me. Somehow I even think You laugh at my jokes. You know me inside and out, and yet You still love me. And You'll never leave me, from the moment of my birth to my last breath and beyond. Who could ask for a better friend?

Amen.

~~~~ from, Everyday Prayers for Everyday Cares for Mothers

[vm]

I Prayed For This Child

As my child, I believe you are here because
you have been given to me by God.
You came from His heart to our home as
a priceless gift - a gift I gave back to Him.
From the beginning your precious life
was placed in God's hands, for keeping.
Since that time I have loved you,
enjoyed you, and prayed for you...
and always I will. I have always held one
special desire for you - that you would know
the One who made you, and loves you
even more than I. My prayer for you is that
you will serve Him with all your heart...
that you will daily trust in His faithfulness
...and that you will always find rest in His love.

~ Roy Lessin

[vm]

I Was So Cross To The Children

Oh, God, I was so cross to the children today. Forgive me.
Oh, God, I was so discouraged, so tired, and so unreasonable. I took it out on them. Forgive me.
Forgive me my bad temper, my impatience, and most of all my yelling.
I cringe to think of it. My heart aches. I want to go down on my knees beside each little bed and wake them and beg them to forgive me. Only I can't, it would only upset them more.
I've got to go on living with the memory of this day. My unjust tirades. The guilty fear in their eyes as they flew about trying to appease me. Thinking it all their fault - my troubles, my disappointments.
Dear God, the utter helplessness of children. Their vulnerability before this awful thing, adult power. And how forgiving they are, hugging me so fervently at bedtime, kissing me good night.
And all I can do now is to straighten a cover, move a toy fallen out of an upthrust hand, touch a small head burrowed in a pillow, and beg in my heart, "Forgive me."

Lord, in failing these little ones whom you've put into my keeping, I'm failing you. Please let your infinite patience and goodness fill me tomorrow. Stand by me, keep your hand on my shoulder. Don't let me be so cross to my children.

~ Marjorie Holmes, I've Got To Talk To Somebody God

[vm]

The Parent's Prayer

~ Author Unknown

O Master, make me a better parent. Teach me to understand my children, to listen patiently to what they say, and to answer all their questions kindly. Keep me from interrupting them, talking back to them, and contradicting them. Make me as courteous to them as I want them to be to me. Give me the courage to confess my sins against my children and to ask their forgiveness when I know that I have wronged them.

May I not hurt the feelings of my children. Forbid that I should laugh at their mistakes or ridicule them in an attempt to punish. Let me not tempt them to lie and steal. Guide me hour by hour that I may demonstrate by all I say and do that honesty produces happiness.

Blind me to the little errors of my children, and help me to see the good things they do. Give me a ready word for honest praise when they do right.

Help me to grow up with my children, to treat them as children and not as adults. Let me not judge them according to the standards of adult behavior. Do not allow me to rob them of the opportunity to wait on themselves, to think, to choose, and to make decisions. Forbid that I should ever punish them for my own selfish satisfaction. May I grant them all their wishes that are reasonable and have the courage always to withhold a privilege that I know would be harmful.

Lord, make me so fair and just, so considerate and compassionate to my children, that they will have a genuine esteem for me. Make me worthy of being loved and imitated by my children.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

[jaime15]

Kim,
Those are some good little prayers. How funny it can hit so close to home. I've been keeping my 8yr old neice this week. She's been going to bible school with us. It's from 9:00 to 11:30. I've been teaching the 5 and 6 yr olds. And I'm just worn out. I caught her last night in a small lie. But I found myself so mad. So I sat there counting. And it worked. The good Lord sure has been carrying me through this week. With the IC and all.
So thank you for posting those prayers to read.
Hugs,
Jaime

[vm]

Sure! :) They do hit close to home, huh? I posted all the ones that I need so often. I can lose my patience so quick and be irritable. I need all the divine help I can get! lmao