Praying for Your Child From Head to ToeSample

Where God Wants Us To Be

The Bible includes a story about a distraught father who had a son with multiple physical and emotional problems. Many people said the boy was possessed by a demon. The dad had tried everything, but the boy continued to demonstrate disturbing actions, such as throwing himself in fire and in water. That sort of behavior, on top of frequent seizures, rolling on the ground, foaming at the mouth, and an inability to talk, made the dad desperate to find a solution.

Then one day, the father heard Jesus was visiting in his community. He boldly brought the boy to the healer, and with desperation in his voice, cried, “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

And Jesus answered, “‘If You can’? Everything is possible for one who believes.”

Immediately the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:22–24).

With that profession, Jesus healed the man’s son. (See vv. 14–29 for the full story.)

Oh, how this story stirs my heart. Can’t you feel the father’s pain? How desperate he must have felt every time the child threw himself into the water or the fire. “Why, son? Why do you do these things?” he must have asked. “I don’t understand.”

Imagine the whispers as the family walked down the streets: “That’s the Jones family. Have you heard about their son? He’s …” The stares, the snickers, the off-color comments. Don’t you know there were many days when this dad wanted to give up? Instead, he offers us a beautiful picture of what all parents must do, the ultimate act in parenting: hand our children over to God.

Parenting comes with exhilarating highs and excruciating lows. At times we find ourselves at the end of mental and emotional resources. We feel we have done everything humanly possible and don’t know the best action to take with our children. That’s exactly where God wants us to be—every day, not depending on our own limited strength and ability but on His limitless power and divine sovereignty.

What do the following scriptures teach us about God’s care in creating our children?

Philippians 1:6

Psalm 139:13–16

Jeremiah 1:5