1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 asserts God’s truth regarding our temporary struggles within this sinful world and provides comfort to all who are willing to receive it, including parents who are praying over their spiritually lost children.  The verse can provide a comforting balm to our aching hearts:

“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.”

This past year, I have found my life verse and have also selected verses for members of my family. A ‘life verse’ is a verse or passage from the Bible that you choose to be your most cherished and recited verse.  As such, you commit the verse to memory and recite it, write it down, and affirm it in your everyday conversations with God. The verse/passage should be one that speaks to your heart, as though it was specifically written with you in mind!

My life verse/passage is Psalm 23:

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever”

This passage resonates deeply within me and my life.  The very vision of God as the Good Shepherd, leading me, walking with me, restoring me, feeding me, and anointing me, provides me with a true sense of comfort and confidence of who I am in Christ. It also reminds me that HE is in charge, not me —- and not the world!

I have also selected life verses that help to guide me in prayer for each member of my family.  I have chosen the following life verse for my daughter, who is my first child:

“No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD and their vindication from me, declares the LORD.” — Isaiah 54:17

This verse speaks to my heart for my daughter as it is God’s promise of protection, shelter and fortification.  I turn this verse into a prayer of affirmation on behalf of my daughter, receiving God’s promise for her as one of his children.  She may currently be struggling with the lies of the enemy and the deceit of the world, but I will choose to stand untroubled and believe God’s promise for her.

Do you have a life verse?  If so, what is your life verse?  Do you have life verses for each member of your family?  If not, I highly recommend it.  You will find that your verses provide hope, inspiration and strengthen your faith.

The Lord told Ezekiel: “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall [a hedge of protection] and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.”  –Ezekiel 22:30

The Lord desires that we intercede in prayer for others for their protection.  “Intercede” is a Latin word that literally means, “go between.”  We must ‘go between’ our children and the enemy, praying a holy and blessed hedge of protection around them.

We must also remain mindful in our prayers for our children that the ever-watchful enemy is on a never-ending quest to produce gaps and cracks in the armor of our children. Indeed, he maliciously targets the very weakest fragments of people, scrutinizing their experiences and abilities; and then attacks each area of vulnerability, including opening deep emotional wounds, producing an endless stream of guilt and shame.

As depicted in Ezekiel, nobody would intercede for the nation to create a spiritual wall of protection around the house of Israel. So, the enemy ran free in his quest to steal, kill, and destroy.   God is appalled when no one is found to intervene:  “He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene.”  (Isaiah 59:16a). 

Jesus was the paramount example of someone standing in the gap for others and can be our model for how we should intercede for our loved ones.  (See John 17, Luke 22:31-32, Luke 23:33-34, and 1 John 2:1).

Won’t you please stand in the gap with me today for the liberation of our children, interceding in prayer that God’s Truth, Hope and Love prevail?