Help, I'm A Parent!Sample

  

Introduction

As we conclude this journey through Scripture, let’s take another look at some key points.

• Children are God’s gift to parents and should be deemed a blessing in our lives.
• Scripture is a guiding lamp that helps parents apply Christian discipline.
• We can steer our children out of harm’s way by sharing the crucial ingredient that helps us navigate our own lives—God’s Word.
• Loving our children well should be a priority in parenting.
• Discipline is an essential ingredient in child-rearing, and love-fueled discipline will be undergirded by patience, kindness, and mercy. 
• Children are complete human beings made in God’s image and they deserve the same dignity as their parents.

Today, we want to surrender all our worries about parenting to God, recognizing that God can be trusted to meet all our needs. Worrying about our cares will certainly not make them go away. In our parenting, we can model Paul’s heart posture demonstrated in a letter he writes to the Christians in Philippi to thank them for a gift they have sent to him in prison and also to encourage them not to lose heart because of his troubles. 

Pray

God, teach me to take all my cares to you in prayer. Help me to be thankful even when things aren’t the way I’d like them to be.  

Read

Paul encourages God’s people not to worry about anything.

Philippians 4:6-7

Reflect

The church at Philippi was the first one Paul established in that region. It’s easy to imagine that the people were like Paul’s children and him, their father. We can imagine how helpless they felt when Paul was imprisoned. To soothe their hearts as a parent would, Paul encourages them not to worry, but take all matters to God in prayer. Doing so would open the door for God’s peace to “guard” their “hearts and minds” (ESV). Paul’s instruction is for us, too. 

Respond

As a parent, what do you most often worry about? There’s a saying: “Why worry when you can pray.” Do you choose to pray when difficulties arise? Let’s pause now to pray (fill in the blanks): God, concerning my children, I thank you for _______________. I find that I’m often worried about ______________. Help me not to be anxious about anything, but to bring everything to you in prayer. Please give me your peace this day. Amen