As moms we know we should pray for our children. Our hearts for our children are so great… it just seems like our ability to pray doesn’t measure up. I love this story from Fern Nichols book, Moms in Prayer: Standing in the Gap for Your Children.
“Some years ago on a hot summer California day, a little girl decided to cool off by playing in the ocean. As she hurried to reach the cool water, she ran out of her family’s beachfront cottage, leaving behind her flip flops and towel as she went. Diving under the water and then resurfacing, she swam out to where the water was the coolest.
Her mother, who was watching from the house, saw a shark’s fin break the water’s surface. In utter fear, the mom ran into the surf, yelling to her daughter as loudly as she could and then swam toward her little girl. Hearing her mother’s voice, the girl made a U-turn to swim toward shore.
It was too late. Just as the mother reached her daughter, the shark attacked. The mom grabbed her little girl by the arms as the shark snatched her legs. That began an incredible tug of war. The shark, which was about six-feet long, was much stronger than the mother, but the mother was much too passionate to let go. A fisherman, who happened to be in a boat nearby, heard the mother’s screams, pulled out a rifle, and shot the shark.
Remarkably, after weeks in the hospital, the little girl survived. Her legs were cut to the bone. And on her arms were deep scars where her mother’s fingernails had dug into her flesh as the mom hung on to the daughter she loved.
A television reporter who interviewed the girl after the trauma asked if she would show him her scars. The girl pulled back the hospital sheets. Then she said, “But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms too. I have them because my mom wouldn’t let go.”
Like that mother who fought with a shark to save her daughter, we moms are fighting a spiritual tug- of- war with the enemy for our children. We must not passively sit back and allow Satan, called the thief in John 10:10, to steal, kill, and destroy our loved ones. The battle we wage for our children is on our knees.”
Just like anything in life, we have to choose to commit, set goals, exercise, and practice. Being a prayer warrior doesn’t just happen. We have to determine intentionally to increase our time in prayer for our children. One of my favorite ways to do that is 31 Biblical Virtues to Pray for Your Children. An entire month of prayer over your children. From salvation to compassion to gratitude… with scriptures for each virtue. One of the most powerful things we can do is also one of the simplest. Be the mom that doesn’t let go.