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The Heart of a Child: Know Godly Discipline

Praying for children has been heavy on my heart during this current season of school and church buildings being closed with the need for social distancing, self isolation, and stay at home orders.  I pray often that families will be able to shield children to some extent from the negative emotions that cling to this COVID-19 pandemic.  This is day thirteen of the devotions from my “The Heart of a Child” book to help each of us pray for a child of any age, including our age.  Through time in prayer, this devotional journal was written to help you understand, and live, some important traits of living and praying with the heart of a child.

Here is day thirteen with an important reminder to submit to godly discipline.

Know Godly Discipline

“The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother.“
Proverbs 29:15 (NIV)

What are your thoughts on discipline?  Why?  Do you think more often of punishment or correction when you hear the word discipline?  Why?  Is there a way that all three of those practices work together?  How?  How does godly discipline relate to spiritual training?  Is there a difference in how you view discipline based on if you are giving or receiving it?  Should there be?  Why?  Are there areas of your life where a lack of discipline has made you less effective than you could be?  What are you doing about it?

Discipline is a practice we rarely like when it is applied to us, yet we can be quick to see how others would benefit from it.  It is our own acceptance of discipline that does the most to help others learn the value of it in their life.  While we like to separate out the pieces to avoid what we find to be unpleasant, godly discipline involves both punishment and correction.  When done well, punishment makes us aware of the consequences of our actions, correction teaches us the new course of action we should take, and discipline carries us through the process of putting those new actions into practice.

As you pray for a child of any age, ask God to help them know and accept the correction of godly discipline.  Pray for a heart that is willing to learn the fruits of discipline.  Pray that your involvement in disciplining others would be done in humility and love.  Pray that you would know, and help others to know, the truth of God disciplining those He loves.  Pray for an understanding of proper punishment and correction so that godly discipline can happen.

In prayer,

Tom  

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The Heart of a Child: Follow Proper Training

Praying for children has been heavy on my heart during this current season of school and church buildings being closed with the need for social distancing, self isolation, and stay at home orders.  I pray often that families will be able to shield children to some extent from the negative emotions that cling to this COVID-19 pandemic.  This is day twelve of the devotions from my “The Heart of a Child” book to help each of us pray for a child of any age, including our age.  Through time in prayer, this devotional journal was written to help you understand, and live, some important traits of living and praying with the heart of a child.

Here is day twelve with an important reminder to give and follow proper training.

Follow Proper Training

“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.“
Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)

What are you good at?  How did you get that way?  How do you feel about training?  Why?  Have you ever thought you were good at something and then discovered there was a better way of doing it than what you had been taught?  How did you feel?  Have you ever had to learn something you thought you would never use but later found it to be a very useful lesson?  How did your attitude about the earlier training change?  How involved are you in training others for the future.

At the heart of any training is a process that rarely produces immediate results.  We train in order to become better at a particular skill set and we train others so that they would know how to do, or be, something that they currently are not.  But it is not just important that we train or provide training.  No, it is critical that the training we seek and pray about is proper in the eyes of God.  Practicing a skill incorrectly will not help us improve; it only serves to solidify a less effective means.  When we train a child of any age in the way they should go, we must be certain the instruction and training are based on the Word of God.

As you pray for a child of any age, ask God to help them follow proper training.  Pray that they would learn to appreciate the instruction that comes from God’s Word.  Pray that you would be equipped to provide proper training because of the training you yourself follow.  Pray that you would not lose heart when those around you do not appear to be responding to the training they receive — at least not in the time frame you think is appropriate.

In prayer,

Tom  

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The Heart of a Child: Live With Right and Pure Conduct

Praying for children has been heavy on my heart during this current season of school and church buildings being closed with the need for social distancing, self isolation, and stay at home orders.  I pray often that families will be able to shield children to some extent from the negative emotions that cling to this COVID-19 pandemic.  This is day eleven of the devotions from my “The Heart of a Child” book to help each of us pray for a child of any age, including our age.  Through time in prayer, this devotional journal was written to help you understand, and live, some important traits of living and praying with the heart of a child.

Here is day eleven with an important reminder that our actions reflect what, and who, is at the center of our life.

Live With Right and Pure Conduct

“Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right.“
Proverbs 20:11 (NIV)

How do you decide what is pure and right?  Why?  Would your typical actions make others believe you are one who seeks to do what is pure and right?  Why?  How difficult is it to choose pure and right conduct all the time?  Does a person’s reputation require perfection in all of their actions?  Why?  Do your expectations of others exceed that of your own conduct?  Why?  When you think about a child of any age, how much help do they need to maintain appropriate conduct?  Who do they need that help from?  Who do you need help from in order to live pure and right?

It seems that every generation gets tagged with a label based on the perceived conduct of those who garner the most attention.  Few of us like labels that are inaccurate — especially if the inaccuracies paint us in a negative way.  On the other hand, none of us are perfect, so how we are viewed will always be based on what is most visible in our life.  Our influence in the lives of others will generally lead them further into, or further away from, pure and right conduct.  Looking for the good in others will not only make it more visible to us, it will make it more desirable to them.

As you pray for a child of any age, ask God to fill them with a desire to do what is right and pure in His eyes.  Pray that you would live as an example to those around you.  Pray that you would not expect perfection but would look for the pure and right conduct in others in order to nurture it.  Pray that the view of pure and right that you seek and share would always be based on what God says.  Pray that the children around you, and the child within you, would always be known for pure and right conduct.

In prayer,

Tom  

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The Heart of a Child: Know a Compassionate Father

Praying for children has been heavy on my heart during this current season of school and church buildings being closed with the need for social distancing, self isolation, and stay at home orders.  I pray often that families will be able to shield children to some extent from the negative emotions that cling to this COVID-19 pandemic.  This is day ten of the devotions from my “The Heart of a Child” book to help each of us pray for a child of any age, including our age.  Through time in prayer, this devotional journal was written to help you understand, and live, some important traits of living and praying with the heart of a child.

Here is day ten with an important reminder that regardless of our examples on earth, our Father in heaven is a compassionate father.

Know a Compassionate Father

“As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.“
Psalm 103:13-14 (NIV)

In your mind, how well do the words father and compassion go together?  Why?  Have you experienced compassion from an earthly father?  How does that influence your view of compassion from God?  Why do you need compassion?  Why do you need to show compassion?  When you are suffering for any reason, how comforting is it to have someone who understands the pain you feel?  How does the compassion you show others help them to believe more fully in a Father who longs to be compassionate toward them?  How does God’s compassion temper His judgment? 

Compassion is one of the qualities that flow from the Father to those who fear Him.  It is His understanding of our suffering, and His suffering with us, that keeps the fear we ought to have from becoming a terrifying thing.  When a child of any age suffers, it is a comforting thing for them to know the compassion of a loving Father.  As those who represent the nature of God to others, we have the privilege of not only receiving that compassion, but also of sharing it with so many others who suffer in this life.

As you pray for a child of any age, ask God to make His compassion obvious to them.  Pray that they would know that they do not suffer alone.  Pray for wisdom in how God would have you share in their suffering.  Pray for those whose fathers on earth have not been the examples of compassion that they should have been.  Pray that the compassion received from a heavenly Father would lead to our having compassion for one another.

In prayer,

Tom  

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The Heart of a Child: Know the Fear of the Lord

Praying for children has been heavy on my heart during this current season of school and church buildings being closed with the need for social distancing, self isolation, and stay at home orders.  I pray often that families will be able to shield children to some extent from the negative emotions that cling to this COVID-19 pandemic.  This is day nine of the devotions from my “The Heart of a Child” book to help each of us pray for a child of any age, including our age.  Through time in prayer, this devotional journal was written to help you understand, and live, some important traits of living and praying with the heart of a child.

Here is day nine with an important reminder to know and teach the fear of the Lord.

Know the Fear of the Lord

“Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. “
Psalm 34:11 (NIV)

Is fear a good thing or a bad thing?  Explain.  What does “the fear of the Lord” mean to you?  Why?  How do you feel about fearing the Lord?  Why?  What are some things that a good and healthy fear protects you from?  What are some things that an unhealthy fear has kept you from?  What’s the difference?  How does learning and practicing a healthy fear lead to greater wisdom?  What have you learned about having a fear of the Lord that you wish you had learned earlier?  How does that help you to pray for others to know the fear of the Lord?

As an emotion, fear is a very complicated thing.  As a decision, however, fear can be a choice that leads us down a path of good and right choices.  When you pray for a child of any age to know a fear of the Lord, you are asking God to direct them in a way of wisdom.  This is a fear that understands both the consequences of disobedience and the love of a forgiving Father.  When we live with a fear of the Lord, we help others to see the joy of walking in obedience — not just to avoid the “wrath of God”, but to honor the Father who loves us beyond measure.

As you pray for a child of any age, ask God to help them know the fear of the Lord as a good and positive thing.  Pray that they would find wisdom in following a path outlined by a godly fear of the Lord.  Pray that God’s love would change those who feel more terror than fear.  Pray that your life would help others to know that there is joy to be found when you fear the Lord according to the honor that He deserves.  Pray that those around you would choose obedience which honors God.

In prayer,

Tom  

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The Heart of a Child: Live a Life of Praise

Praying for children has been heavy on my heart during this current season of school and church buildings being closed with the need for social distancing, self isolation, and stay at home orders.  I pray often that families will be able to shield children to some extent from the negative emotions that cling to this COVID-19 pandemic.  This is day eight of the devotions from my “The Heart of a Child” book to help each of us pray for a child of any age, including our age.  Through time in prayer, this devotional journal was written to help you understand, and live, some important traits of living and praying with the heart of a child.

Here is day eight with an important reminder to live a life that praises God.

Live a Life of Praise

“From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.“
Psalm 8:2 (NIV)

How do you feel when people praise you?  Is that feeling different based on why they are praising you or what you perceive their motives to be?  Why?  How often do you praise others?  Why do you praise them?  Do you think they appreciate it?  Why?  What would it look like if your praise of God would come from a child-like heart?  Would it sound different?  Would its source be from a different reason?  How does your giving, and accepting, of praise help children learn to offer praise to God? 

Praise is an interesting thing because we tend to use it in our interactions with one another in ways that aren’t always pure.  One of the big differences between praise and flattery is the motive behind what we say.  True praise, and particularly our praise of God, should always be about Him because making it about what we want isn’t really praise.  When we live a life of honest praise, we teach our children that we value God, and them, simply for who they are.  The praise that comes from children, and from the child within us, is a praise of innocence that exalts God and silences those opposed to Him.

As you pray for a child of any age, ask God to help each of you offer praise which is genuine.  Pray that your example of praise would lead others to honor God with their words and their life.  Pray for honesty in examining the motives behind the praise that is expressed.  Pray that the heart of a child would always be turned toward God in praise.  Pray that each person would learn to offer praise to God simply because they value His presence in their life.

In prayer,

Tom  

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The Heart of a Child: Know the Joy of the Lord

Praying for children has been heavy on my heart during this current season of school and church buildings being closed with the need for social distancing, self isolation, and stay at home orders.  I pray often that families will be able to shield children to some extent from the negative emotions that cling to this COVID-19 pandemic.  This is day seven of the devotions from my “The Heart of a Child” book to help each of us pray for a child of any age, including our age.  Through time in prayer, this devotional journal was written to help you understand, and live, some important traits of living and praying with the heart of a child.

Here is day seven with an important reminder to find joy through your relationship with Jesus and pray that your example would help others to know the joy of the Lord.

Know the Joy of the Lord

“And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away.”
Nehemiah 12:43 (NIV)

How joyful are you?  Would your closest friends agree?  Would strangers agree?  Why?  What is the source of your joy?  Does your level of joy vary?  Why?  How does living with the joy of the Lord change the amount of joy you express in your day to day life?  What does the joy of the Lord mean to you?  How can you help others to find and have it?  What is it about your relationship with the Lord that brings you the most joy?  How often do you express that reason, and that joy, to others?  Do you think the children around you, and the child within you, believe you have great joy in the Lord?  Why?

Living with joy is not easy, especially when much of what we label as joy is based upon the circumstances of life being in our favor.  The joy of the Lord, however, tends to be based upon two things.  One, a recognition of the Lord’s presence with us, and two, an understanding of what the Lord has done for us that only He could have done.  When we help the children around us understand those two things, we set them on a path where the joy of the Lord can be found.  When the joy of the Lord is in us, there will be no hiding it.

As you pray for a child of any age, ask God to fill you with a joy that can only come from Him.  Pray that your expressions of joy will help the children in your life to know that true joy can be found when we seek it in the Lord.  Pray for wisdom in leading others to see a path of joy when the journey they are walking is filled with difficulty.  Pray that you would be an example to the children around you when it comes to ways to express the joy the Lord has filled you with.

In prayer,

Tom  

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The Heart of a Child: Return to God

Praying for children has been heavy on my heart during this current season of school and church buildings being closed with the need for social distancing, self isolation, and stay at home orders.  I pray often that families will be able to shield children to some extent from the negative emotions that cling to this COVID-19 pandemic.  This is day six of the devotions from my “The Heart of a Child” book to help each of us pray for a child of any age, including our age.  Through time in prayer, this devotional journal was written to help you understand, and live, some important traits of living and praying with the heart of a child.

Here is day six with an important reminder to know that we, and all those around us, can return to God from wherever we have strayed or been scattered.

Return to God

“When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. “
Deuteronomy 30:1-3 (NIV)

Have you ever been lost or found it necessary to be away from familiar surroundings for an extended period of time?  How did you feel?  Why?  Are there times when you begin to doubt if you could ever return to a place, or person, you once valued?  Why?  What does it take to return to a relationship you once rejected?  How does your forgiveness of children, and yourself, help each of you to know you can return to God even after you stray?  Are there people that you think are too far from God to ever return?  What does God say?  How does your return to God when you stray give hope to those watching you?

Many people, including children, find themselves estranged from one another and from God.  Sometimes the separation is so great, or the reasons so personal, that we begin to think there is no way back.  One of the most beautiful promises in the Bible is the promise of God that He will be found from wherever we are when we seek Him with our whole heart.  There may be no message more powerful that we can communicate to our children than the message that there is always a way home.

As you pray for a child of any age, ask God to help you remember your journey to Him, including the times you have strayed and returned.  Pray that the children around you, and the child within you, would live in the humility that allows for a full reconciliation of those who stray.  Pray for a softening and removal of pride which keeps the wandering child from believing they can return to God.  Pray for a practice, and acceptance, of forgiveness which can bring about a restoration once thought impossible.

In prayer,

Tom