Category: Family

10 Verses to Pray for your Knight in Training

“Yes, there are problems in our culture. But we do not need to be consumed with fear or fatalism. It is possible to raise boys entirely different from the cultural norm. So be a warrior, not a worrier! Be fiercely loyal and dedicated to raising your boys up.” Heather Haupt from Knights in Training

When we are tempted to fear the world that our children are growing up in, let us remind our hearts that God is bigger than any problem we (or our kids!) will ever face! And let us be more prayerful than fearful.

10 Verses to Pray for your Knight in Training

Let us be prayer warrior mamas for our knights in training. Praying God’s Word has transformed my prayer life. If you want to read more about this way of praying, you can subscribe to my blog for a free ebook guide on how to Pray the Scriptures.

Here are 10 verses that we can pray over our sons, each one correlates with one of the “codes of honor” mentioned in the book Knights in Training.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (Code: Love god)

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I give you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of theme when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” 

Prayer: Oh Lord, grant me the grace to love you more and more each day. May my knight in training learn what it means to love you with all of his heart, soul and strength. Help my husband and I to be diligent teachers and doers of the Word in our home, when we sit at home, when we are driving around town and when we go to sleep at night. May your Word and Your love and Your sacrifice ever be on the forefront of our minds and hearts. Only by Your grace and for Your glory!

Ephesians 6:1 (code: obey)

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.”

Prayer: Lord, grow in my son a heart that delights in obedience. May he know, all the days of his life, what is right and good. May he always follow Your path and when he strays, draw him back to Yourself.

Micah 6:8 (code:stand against injustice)

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Prayer: Lord, You have shown us what is good. You have shown my son what is good and what You require of him. Help him to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with You all the days of his life.

Isaiah 1:16-17 (code: protect the weak)

“Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.”

Prayer: Father God, may my son learn to defend the helpless, to defend and build up the oppressed, to bring justice to the fatherless and plead the widow’s cause. Grow in my son a heart of compassion for the needy around him. Give him the courage to share your love without fear.

Ephesians 6:2 (code: respect women)

“Honor your father and mother that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 

Prayer: Lord, grow in my son a heart of honor not only for those in authority in his life, but for all men and women everywhere. May he always show respect and honor to the women you place in his life.

Matthew 5:9 (code: don’t give offense)

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

Prayer: Lord, You have said we will be blessed when we choose to be peacemakers. Grow in my son a heart that desires peace above being right. Convict his heart when his motives aren’t pure and he wants to pick a fight with those around him. Give him a heart of peace and humility in all things.

Ephesians 5:15-16 (code: speak truth)

“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

Prayer: Father God, give my son courage to speak truth. And give him the wisdom to speak the truth in love. Grow him up in You, Lord.

Psalm 112:4-6 (Code: Be generous)

“Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous. It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice. For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever.”

Prayer: God, Your light dawns in the darkness for those who live upright lives. We desire to be the light of the world to this lost and dying world we live in. May my son be gracious, merciful and righteous. You have told us that it will go well for the man who deals generously and that is our heart’s desire for our knights in training. Make them generous to all they come into contact with and in every situation they face. May he always conduct his affairs with justice.

James 1:25 (Code: Persevere)

“But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”

Prayer: Lord, may my son persevere in looking to You and Your Word, which brings freedom, and may he persevere. May he not be a hearer of the word alone, but also a doer who acts. We know that he will be blessed in the process.

Colossians 3:23-24 (Code: Pursue Excellence)

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”

Prayer: Lord, may my son be a hard worker. May he know that you created him to work. Remind him that he works for You and that he will receive the beautiful inheritance you have for him as a reward. May my knight in training serve you all the days of his life.

Knights in Training

My friend Heather Haupt has written a fabulous book for moms of boys and it releases TODAY. This book, Knights in Training, has 10 principles for raising our modern day knights to be honorable, courageous and compassionate.

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40 Day Challenge: Praying the Scriptures for Your Children

We will never be perfect parents, but we can be PRAYING parents.

Parenting is, by far, the most difficult calling I’ve even been given. But one thing I am learning, time and time again, is that when any kind of thought or emotion from the enemy enters our minds: fear, confusion, anger, resentment, rebellion, ungodliness – we must combat with God’s Word and prayer. Only through Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit can we have PEACE in the most difficult of our parenting seasons. Only Jesus can replace that fear with faith. And we must turn to Him, continually, to receive His gifts of love, mercy, peace and joy.

I want to challenge you to spend the next 40 week days praying God’s very Word over your children. Through the power of the Holy Spirit through prayer, we can leave a legacy beyond compare for our children. Not only that, but through prayer, God also changes our hearts and continues making us into the parents He has called us and equipped us to be.

(scroll all the way down to enter your email into the sign-up box!)

What to Expect

After you have signed up, each weekday morning between 7-8am, you can expect a short & sweet email from me. This email will contain these 4 things:

  • Scripture passage
  • Short prayer
  • Graphic of the verse that you can save or share
  • An “extra resource” with some of my favorite posts, articles and resources for praying for our children!

This series isn’t intended to be a dissertation on prayer. This series isn’t intended to be a teaching series. This series isn’t intended to be a thorough study of the Bible.

The main goal of this series is to get each of us PRAYING.

When/if you are tempted to feel like you don’t know how to pray, you can’t get prayer right or you just want to give up, I want to encourage you to JUST PRAY. The best way to learn to pray is to just do it. The more you talk and listen to God, the more your prayer life will grow.

You can start this anytime!

I am thrilled to offer this challenge to anyone who finds it weeks or months from now. I have it set up to begin sending you emails the very next day after you sign up! So, if you find this series on Pinterest months from the date of this blog post, go ahead and sign up, you will start receiving the challenge emails when you sign up!

It’s never the wrong time to begin praying daily for our children!

Why I created this challenge

So, before you think I am a super spiritual prayer warrior who spends hours on her knees daily for her children, just stop right there. Grin. I am a normal mom like you, I battle fear, I struggle with knowing how to parent on a minute-by-minute basis, I need all the help I can get.

So I created this challenge for me. But it would be awesome if you decide to join me for the journey.

Sign up here

Enter your name & email to sign up for this challenge here. You will receive a short welcome email to let you know you are subscribed to the challenge. Make sure to check your spam folder and put my email in your contacts if you wish to make sure you see these emails everyday!

**Note: this is different than my blog subscription. You do need to sign up specifically for this challenge if you wish to receive the emails! They will not go to everyone on my email list, only those who have signed up here!

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10 Verses to Pray for your Tweens

I’m sure most of us can recall awkward and painful moments from our middle and high school years. I’ve heard many people say that middle school years were the worst years of their lives. Sometimes it’s just as hard to be the parent of a teen or tween!

As a mom of three children in the teen and tween category, prayer has become a greater weapon than ever before. We will never be perfect parents, but we can be praying parents.

Praying God’s Word has been a journey for me. It started in a dark season of depression when I had no words to pray. It turned into transformative prayer that has changed my relationship with God over the years. Praying the Scriptures is for all of us because it helps us to pray the Words and will of God. His Word gives us words when we have none. His Word strengthens us in our weakness. The Holy Spirit uses God’s Word to convict, encourage and inspire.

What better way to pray for our children than to pray the very Word of God?

I want to share with you 10 verses that can be powerful prayers for our teens and tweens!

Please click here to read the 10 verses…

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Easter Baskets for Teens

Parenting teens comes with its challenges, doesn’t it? One thing I have enjoyed, as a mom with 2 teens and one 12 year old is continuing traditions in our home even when they may seem to be too old for said tradition. Leaving Valentine cards & candy on the breakfast table in February, filling stockings full of things they love, Easter eggs hunts and Shamrock shakes in March.

One of those traditions is finding special, meaningful and cross-centered items to go in their Easter baskets each year. No, we don’t have to have baskets to celebrate Easter. But, yes, I love making holidays and other days special in our home. So, for me personally, if there is ANY day I’m going to make special, it’s going to be the day my Savior rose from the grave!

Finding Christ-centered Easter items can be a bit of a challenge, though. But, Dayspring has come through for me…big time!!

Look at all of these beautiful ideas for Easter baskets that I found at Dayspring!

Dayspring Coupon Code

Dayspring was gracious enough to offer a coupon code JUST FOR YOU!!

Use the code MERCY15 to save $15 off of a $50 purchase!! Woo-hoo! This code will expire on April 11th. 

In addition to these Christ-centered ideas that will help remind my teens of God’s love for them, here are more ideas that I think teens would love! I have included gift cards in our baskets this year, too. 🙂

Easter Basket Ideas for Teens

Tell me what items your teens would love to receive in their Easter baskets?

More Christ-Centered Family Easter Ideas

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Here’s a Cuppa Grace for you, weary mama!

Hey, mamas, here is a big CUPPA GRACE from one mom in the trenches to the next.
 
It’s been one of those days. It started so beautifully, as seen by my pretty Instagram picture of my Bible and coffee. I was up really early and prayed for my kids and our day. I was feeling all on top of things. Hopeful. Even joyful to be awake so early.
 
And then my kids woke up. It’s sorta been downhill from there.
 
Ahem. You know by now that pictures aren’t always what they seem, right?? You know I love God’s Word and I love my quiet time in the morning but you know I have bad days too?? Today has been one of those days where I have especially questioned every single decision more than I do on other days when I just kind of overthink everything. 😉
 
Maybe we *should* put them in school. Why *did* we give our kids devices? (They are currently without said devices and it may be awhile before they get them back. More second guessing.) How can I really do this mom thing and do it well? What am I thinking? Maybe our relationships would be better if we weren’t together 24/7. Maybe we need a break. Maybe I need a break. Maybe I should start a savings account for all the counseling my kids are going to need. How can I know what would have been better? How can I rest in this decision? Maybe this was a bad decision. Maybe I’ve failed them in this area…and on and on and on.
 
And you know what the answer is to all of my questions? JESUS.
I know this answer and I pray with all my heart that my kids know I’m desperate for Jesus and that I don’t have it all figured out. I hope that when I’m a failure as a mom my failings point them to a God that will never fail them.
 
So, moms who homeschool and moms who chose public school…this grace is for you. Moms who destest devices and moms who love technology in their home…this grace is for you. Moms who have pinterest perfect parties but carry the weight and fear of failure, this grace is for you. Moms who wish they could have pinterest parties, this grace is for you. Moms who don’t care about pinterest parties but just wish they could have any kind of celebration with their child today, this grace is for you. Moms who are doing this alone, this grace is for you.

 
Jesus is FOR YOU. You are loved. I am loved. Let’s show that same love and grace to each other. WE NEED EACH OTHER and that GRACE so desperately. We are all just making our way home. Let’s share a CUPPA GRACE together. <3

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