God, Help Me Not To Mess Up My Kids!Намуна

God, Have Mercy!—A Prayer for Kids to have Mercy and Grace

Do you remember the children’s game called “Mercy”? Your hands might begin to hurt with just the memory of it! The game is played by grasping another person’s hands by interlocking fingers. Then we tried to twist the opponents hands or fingers until the other person surrendered. When the opponent could no longer stand the pain, she would cry “Mercy!” The Bible uses the word mercy too, but it isn’t used as a way to surrender.

In the Bible, mercy is God not punishing us as our sins deserve. It is a deliverance from judgment. God is the greatest example of mercy when He doesn’t punish us as our sins deserve and instead grants us forgiveness.

Mercy isn’t just for God though! We can teach our children to exhibit mercy too. It comes in the form of compassion in our attitudes, words and actions. It is love in action. Our children might feel sorry for someone or even feel sympathy, but that isn’t mercy. Instead, mercy seeks to answer their need with self-sacrificing service. We can pray for God to give our children a heart for the poor, exploited, forgotten and those in need of mercy.

Let’s use today’s verse as a blueprint for prayer. Take the concepts of the verses and turn them into a prayer for your children. Here’s an example:

Father God, May my children understand your mercy—how you gave them deliverance from their sins, instead of the punishment they deserve. May they come to accept your gift of mercy and grace. Create in them a heart to be merciful to others, just as You are merciful. Help them look outside of themselves and notice those around them who are in need of Your mercy. May they put action to the needs they see and give sacrificially to meet those needs. Give them a heart of mercy” (based on Luke 6:36).

Let’s dig deeper together. Watch a humorous video about why moms have a hard time getting things accomplished, find encouragement, and discover some practical ways to apply this lesson.