Praying Circles around Your Children
Praying Circles around Your Children
Week One, Chapter 4
I have been excited about doing this study together! Did you read up to and including chapter four?
The first Circle: Circling the Promises
“Drawing prayer circles is a metaphor that simply means “to pray without ceasing.””
Before the Guire family adopted, I prayed specific prayers concerning spiritual health for my biological children
– to grow in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man
– to accept Jesus as their savior at an early age
– to have the discipline and desire to study and read the Word
along with prayers for physical health:
-healing from various diseases and sicknesses
-protection physically, mentally and spiritually
When I started the adoption journey, I began to pray for children who would become of my forever family that I had never met, never been to their country, their home, met the friends or family or seen a picture of. I didn’t even know their names. WOW! Talk about waving a sword in the dark. I looked back in my old pre-adoption journals. I wrote a lot of general- let them be fed, warm and have someone to take care of them prayers. Then the Holy Spirit quietly prodded me to begin to pray for their inner healing as well as their outer well being.
I began to pray from Ephesians 3:16-19 for my pre-adopted children as well as my biological children.
“May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make his permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love,
That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God’s devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it]: (emphasis mine)
[That you may really come]to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ which surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!
Powerful WORD!
I prayed that my pre-adopted children would be healed from the wounds of the past….hearts, minds and bodies healed. (Isaiah 61).
Remember God is:
Omnipresent- all present
Omnipotent- all powerful
Omniscient- all knowing
He was there when my pre-adopted children experienced hideous trauma. He can transcend time and heal the brokenness. I have seen it. Nothing is impossible with God. If you find your child in a situation that seems hopeless, too bleak to endure for another day, too painful for the family to handle, if you have a secret of a wound so deep you are afraid to bring it out into the light, a past full of regret the impedes your parenting, then get out your pen and circle. Circle the promises of God for you and for your children. I’m doing it with you! I’m praying for you!
“And their offspring shall be known among the nations and their descendants among the peoples. All who see them [in their prosperity] will recognize and acknowledge that they are the people whom the Lord has blessed.” Isaiah 61: 9
See you for Time-Saving Tuesday- The Journal. I’ll be sharing some answers to the above prayers!
Please comment below. How is the study going? What revelations have you had? Thoughts? Prayers?
Don’t forget to join Maria over at Thejoyfullyfrugalhome for more study on Praying Circles around Your Children!
Please comment below. How is the study going? What revelations have you had? Thoughts? Prayers?
Don’t forget to join Maria over at Thejoyfullyfrugalhome for more study on Praying Circles around Your Children!
I downloaded this book for my kindle when it was free last summer. Looks like a good one to read soon.
I downloaded this book for my kindle when it was free last summer. Looks like a good one to read soon.
I have found this to be a great resource and inspiration. I am still adding to my list of circle prayers for my children. I have always prayed for my girls and love praying scripture but over the last week I have been praying those scriptures over the girls so they can hear. Very powerful for them to hear those scriptures repeated and understand the fullness of scripture as formation for life.
Megan
I have found this to be a great resource and inspiration. I am still adding to my list of circle prayers for my children. I have always prayed for my girls and love praying scripture but over the last week I have been praying those scriptures over the girls so they can hear. Very powerful for them to hear those scriptures repeated and understand the fullness of scripture as formation for life.
Megan
Megan, I agree! It has been a great reminder to pray these scriptures aloud with my youngest. There is a great age gap between him and the others. The older kids had years of saturation from the Word and they remember tons of scripture from it, by the grace of God! For some reason, I stopped praying the scripture aloud with him. I needed to a spiritual poke and this book is a great one. I started praying scripture aloud with him the couple of weeks (and whoever else is in the vicinity) and choosing scriptures to memorize that will help him specifically.
Thanks for sharing and encouraging!
Megan, I agree! It has been a great reminder to pray these scriptures aloud with my youngest. There is a great age gap between him and the others. The older kids had years of saturation from the Word and they remember tons of scripture from it, by the grace of God! For some reason, I stopped praying the scripture aloud with him. I needed to a spiritual poke and this book is a great one. I started praying scripture aloud with him the couple of weeks (and whoever else is in the vicinity) and choosing scriptures to memorize that will help him specifically.
Thanks for sharing and encouraging!
'last couple of weeks'
'last couple of weeks'
This is a very good book. Thank you for sharing about it. I have read Mark Batterson's stuff before but had not seen this particular one.
I was challenged by pg 45 when it discusses the role of a parent- “know your children” and “know Scripture.”. Great reminder/challenge to be in the Word!
This is a very good book. Thank you for sharing about it. I have read Mark Batterson's stuff before but had not seen this particular one.
I was challenged by pg 45 when it discusses the role of a parent- “know your children” and “know Scripture.”. Great reminder/challenge to be in the Word!
Yes, it is a great challenge to “know your children” and “know Scripture”. As parents, it is tempting to parent without a foundation in scripture. Teri Maxwell says if our parenting isn't based on scripture, then it we parent on a whim (paraphrasing). OUCH! I am glad we are doing this study. I needed the reboot!
Yes, it is a great challenge to “know your children” and “know Scripture”. As parents, it is tempting to parent without a foundation in scripture. Teri Maxwell says if our parenting isn't based on scripture, then it we parent on a whim (paraphrasing). OUCH! I am glad we are doing this study. I needed the reboot!
Recently I have been challanged in praying out loud for my children I haven't because I had gotten tongue tied and unable to keep thoughts in order.. so I simply stopped.. and praying in public didn't do because of what others might think… well since I picked up this book I've been bold in praying out loud & in public even texted a prayer. I care about my children's future.
Recently I have been challanged in praying out loud for my children I haven't because I had gotten tongue tied and unable to keep thoughts in order.. so I simply stopped.. and praying in public didn't do because of what others might think… well since I picked up this book I've been bold in praying out loud & in public even texted a prayer. I care about my children's future.