Mark Batterson - Praying Circles around Your Children

I want to be famous in my home.

This is the deepest desire of my heart and the greatest challenge of my life. Parenting our three children is far more difficult and far more important than pastoring thousands of people. Just the other day, I said to Lora, I feel like well finally figure out this parenting thing the same day our kids leave home!

The truth is, well never figure it out, because children are moving targets. Just when you think you have them pegged, they become toddlers or teenagers or twenty-somethings, and youre right back at square one. All you can do is learn a few lessons along the way and enjoy the journey. I have discovered one thing, however, that makes all the difference in the world.

Make sure the heavenly Father hears about your kids daily!

Right at the outset, let me give you some bad news, some good news, and some great news about parenting and praying for your children.

The bad news first: Youll make a lot of mistakes.

Youll lose your patience. Youll lose your temper. You might even lose your mind a time or two. If you feel like a failure at the end of most days, welcome to my world. My parenting ineptitude is epitomized by one shining moment when our oldest son, Parker, was a toddler. He had a fitful night full of tears, and I couldnt understand why. Then he crawled into our room in the middle of the night. I was too tired to take him back to his bed, so I reached down to pull him into ours. Thats when I realized why he had been crying. A bare butt was the tip-off that I had forgotten to put a diaper on him when I put him to bed.

Its amazing our kids even survive our parenting, isnt it?

While were on the subject, the word diaper spelled backward is repaid. So apropos!

Now heres the good news: Your worst mistakes double as your greatest opportunities.

How will your kids learn to apologize unless you model it for them, to them? Your mistakes give you the opportunity to teach them one of the most important lessons theyll ever learn how to say Im sorry.

I have a very simple parenting philosophy that boils down to just three words: please, sorry, and thanks. If all else fails, I want to teach my kids to be really good at saying these words. And then doing them. If they master these three words, theyre well on their way to great marriages, great friendships, or great relationships with God.

Finally, heres the great news: Prayer covers a multitude of sins.

You dont have to do everything right as a parent, but there is one thing you cannot afford to get wrong. That one thing is prayer. Youll never be a perfect parent, but you can be a praying parent. Prayer is your highest privilege as a parent. There is nothing you can do that will have a higher return on investment. In fact, the dividends are eternal.

Prayer turns ordinary parents into prophets who shape the destinies of their children, grandchildren, and every generation that follows.

The blood running through my veins is 50 percent Swedish. I trace my genealogy back through the Johansson family, who made a decision to get on a boat and come to America in the late nineteenth century. That single decision set off a chain reaction that radically altered the destiny of every descendant to follow. That one decision made its mark on children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in more ways than I can possibly imagine.

Just as one decision can change your destiny, so can one prayer. If you were to map out your spiritual history, you would find countless answers to prayer at key intersections along the way. Before you were even born, even named, many of you had parents and grandparents who prayed for you. At critical ages and stages, family and friends interceded on your behalf. And thousands of complete strangers have prayed for you in ways you arent even aware of. The sum total of those prayers is your prayer genealogy.

Its like your tree of life, your tree of Adam.

I believe that every blessing, every breakthrough, every miracle traces back to the prayers that were prayed by you or for you. One of the greatest moments in eternity will be the day God peels back the space-time curtain and unveils His sovereignty by connecting the divine dots between our prayers and His answers. That infinite web of prayer crisscrosses every nation, every generation. And when God finally reveals His strange and mysterious ways, it will drop us to our knees in worship. We will thank Him for the prayers He did answer. Well also thank Him for the prayers He didnt answer because well finally understand why. And well thank Him for the answered prayers we werent even aware of.

My grandfather Elmer Johnson died when I was just six years old, but his prayers did not. Our prayers never die. They live on in the lives of those we prayed for. Some of the most poignant and providential moments in my life have been the moments when the Spirit of God has whispered to my spirit, Mark, the prayers of your grandfather are being answered in your life right now.

My Grandpa Johnson had a habit of kneeling by his bed at night, taking off his hearing aid, and praying for his family. He couldnt hear himself, but everyone else in the house could. Few things are more powerful than hearing someone intercede on your behalf. His voiceprint left an imprint on my soul.

Im following in my grandfathers footsteps by getting on my knees and praying next to my bed. Its a great way to start the day. My first thoughts and words are directed toward God. I also pray for my sleeping beauty lying a few feet away.

I realize not everyone inherited a prayer legacy from their parents or grandparents like I did, but you can leave a legacy for future generations. You can start a new tradition, a new tree. You can begin a new prayer genealogy.

The most important ten minutes of my day are the ten minutes I spend with my kids right before they leave for school. For many years, I felt like a failure when it came to leading my family in devotions. I could never seem to find a rhythm or a routine. It felt like one failed attempt after another. Then, the week before Parker started high school, Lora and I were on our Monday morning coffee date. Since I preach on Sundays, Monday is our Sabbath. We talk about our marriage, our kids, our calendar, and our finances. During the course of this particular conversation, I confessed my feeling of failure and thats when Lora shared something her dad did, which I decided to adopt.

My father-in-law prayed with more intensity and more consistency than anybody Ive ever known. Thats why I dedicated The Circle Maker to Bob Schmidgall. He prayed about everything. In fact, when I asked him if I could marry his daughter, he literally said, Let me pray about it. Thatll put the fear of God in you! Especially when he didnt check back in for a week!

Bob Schmidgall was extraordinarily busy pasturing the church he founded in Naperville, Illinois, but he found time to do devotions with his four children every day before school. In the spirit of full disclosure, the teenaged Lora didnt always enjoy those devotions. What teenager does? But more than a decade after her dads death, those times they spent together are treasured memories. Those devotions were a daily touchpoint with her dad.