Faithful God, I start this day not in worry or fear, but in the strength of your mighty name that is as mighty for my child as it was for Moses when you parted the Red Sea.
Jealous God, I claim your jealous love that contends with those who contend with my child. Seek out my child's whole heart and mind, leaving nothing hidden or unturned, illuminated by your love to be used for your glory.
Saving God, for my child walking a path with choices that the enemy has made to feel have short-term repercussions, open their eyes, that they may see your truth.
Freedom-gifting God, open my child's ears, that they may hear you say "be free!"
Grace-writer, write your grace-laden story in my child's life. May today be the day they know beyond a shadow of a doubt the depths of your desire and love for them in the middle of their mess. May today be the day that your bravery becomes their bravery and may today be the day that your holy renewing of their mind starts a transformation fire that won't be put out by mere mortals or mere temptation of mankind and will continue to burn until the day they meet you, then being flamed eternal.
Name-engraving God, remember my child's name you have engraved on the palm of your hand. Defeat lies. Pave a path of righteousness whether my child is already seeking you or whether my child is far from you. Guide them to the path that gives life and keep them from looking to the right or to the left. Stir up the ability in my child to claim their worth in you, that they will write your name on their hand and call themself "The Lord's."
Sin-binding God, I bind up sin in the blood-stained hands of your Son Jesus. I bind up comparison, I bind up believing they need to hide a part of themselves to be accepted by their peers and parents, I bind up the desire of acceptance from humans when it outweighs and clouds the ability to receive full acceptance from you. I bind up the lies of the enemy that readily await my child and pray that you would uproot each one, as painful as it may be. May I be a soft place to land, sharing refreshment freely like an oasis filled with cold drinks and cool breeze, as they are doing the hard work of the uprooting. Even if I myself feel completely worn out. Be my source of refreshment that it may run through me to my child. Give my child a hunger and a thirst for your word that gives life. May they be unsatisfied until they seek you in full surrender. Would you lovingly call them closer to you, in such a constant and steady way that they won't be able to ignore you.
Creator God, thank you that you made my child and you called them good. Thank you that my child is full of wonder and possibility. Thank you that you trust me to steward the heart and soul and mind of my child. Show me one thing today that I can step out in bravery to try as I seek to connect with my most treasured, my child. Quiet the voice of the enemy when rolled eyes and disapproving facial expressions are my response. Bring new life in our relationship where there is something that is dead.
God of Living Water, open my heart, mind, tongue, thoughts, and every part of me that is required for Godly parenting, fully to you. Send your living water through me and let it flow freshly into my home. Let this living water flow like a much needed rain in dry land. Bring thirst to my child that is unquenchable except by your Spirit. Smash the cisterns this world has attempted to give to my child that cannot hold water and replace them with cisterns from you.
God of Promise, though the enemy plots the ruin of my child, it will not happen. You promise to let my child grow strong like an oak tree planted by the river. You promise to heal them. You promise to give light to my child's darkness. You promise that out of your fullness they will receive grace in place of grace already given. You promise to give sight where there was once a blindness. Give my child strength in their inner spirit to stand firm in your promises.
Victorious God, we claim your victory over our child. We thank you that our child begins their day in victory because of what your Son Jesus did on the Cross. Your victory cannot be earned, it can only be humbly received. Thank you that our child is victorious in you.
Loving God, I commit my child to you today. I will not grow tired or weary, I will keep bringing them to the Cross. I will put on the full Armor of God and stand firm in my faith. Thank you that in my moments and seasons of self-doubt, you are strong so that I can remain strong in you. Thank you that there is nothing new under the sun that I am walking through as a parent or that my child is walking through as a teenager that you do not understand. You are with me and you are with my child. You are for me, and you are for my child. Bring beauty today that only you can bring, that my child would feel precious in the midst of experiencing the beauty you are bringing about through them.
In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Prayer written by Hannah Stutzman
Scriptures to hold on to today
Exodus 14:10-22 (NIV)
"As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”
Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”
Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left."
John 9:25 (NIV)
"He replied, "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!"
John 1:9 (NIV)
"The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world."
Isaiah 49:16 (NIV)
"See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands."
Psalm21:10-12 (NIV)
"You will destroy their descendants from the earth, their posterity from mankind. Though they plot evil against you and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed.
You will make them turn their backs when you aim at them with drawn bow."
Galatians 5:1 (NIV)
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."
Romans 4:17b (NIV)
"He is our father...the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not."
