One thing that breaks my heart most is when I hear stories of parents and grandparents who have loved and served God faithfully and sacrificially their whole lives, but their own children or grandchildren are not living for Jesus.

There is always sadness and a longing for the children to be on fire for Jesus.

So I feel led to dedicate one of the 40.Day prayers to parents.

We are familiar with the parable of the Prodigal Son. But actually, it is also the Prodigal Sons.

Two sons – one strayed, one stayed. But both are just as lost; one lost in the world, one lost in the house – the house of God.

The son who remained at home was equally lost. He had no relationship with the Father. The prodigal son was far from home, while the other son was “near” home. But “near” does not mean “close” to the Father. Proximity does not mean intimacy.

Some of our sons and daughters are lost in the world. Meanwhile, some of our sons and daughters are still in the house. They are still in church, but they may still be lost, because they don’t have a strong personal relationship with the Father.

Passing down the mission

God has no grandchildren. We pray, “Our Father in Heaven.” We never pray, “Our Grandfather in heaven.” In other words, it cannot be “My dad’s God” or “My mum’s church”.

Let’s pray that our children will have a personal encounter with Jesus. Let’s pray they have a revelation from Heaven, so that it goes from “My dad’s God” to “My God, my Lord, my Saviour”. It goes from “My mum’s church” to “My church, my calling, my vision.”

Let’s also pray for ourselves, the Christian parents. We need wisdom, grace and patience.

Singapore is a place where we know the price of everything, but the value of nothing. We know the price of a house, but we do not know the value of a home. Our children know the price of an iPhone, but they do not know the value of communication and fellowship.

As Christian parents, let’s focus more on building godly character and biblical values.

I always tell the parents in our church – don’t just pass down the money, pass down the mission. Don’t just pass down valuables, pass down the values.

We pray for all the children who are lost in the world.
We pray they will come home to You, they will have a relationship with You.
We declare – none shall be lost!

We pray for all the children who are lost in the house.
We pray for the children in church school and youth fellowship. We pray that they will have a personal relationship with You. We pray that they will encounter You and have a revelation of You. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

We pray for ourselves as parents.
We repent if we have put academics, success and career above You. Help us to re-prioritise, to put You first in our lives. Give us more wisdom, patience and faith.

Thank you, Jesus. We pray all this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Reflect

1. How can we pray for our children and grandchildren to know Jesus deeper?

2. How can we, as parents, model Christian living to our children and grandchildren?

3. What do we have to re-prioritise in the way we parent so that our children will grow closer to Jesus?

Pray

1. Pray for the children and grandchildren you know who have Christian parents but are far from the heart of God. Pray for them to have a personal encounter with God and for their lives to be transformed by the love of Christ.

2. Lift up Christian parents whose children are living outside of God’s will. Their burden is heavy; pray for fellow believers and the Church to come alongside these parents to encourage, journey with and bless them in meaningful ways.

3. Pray for yourself and every believer to grow in the knowledge of God and flourish in His love as sons and daughters of the Most High.