Lighthouse scribes

Am I the only one who thinks that there are more forums where we gather to pray for our children than there are where we teach each other how to bring up children biblically? Yet, there is no direct biblical injunction to pray for our children.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying Christians shouldn’t pray for their children, or that, by extension, God doesn’t want us to. I’m simply saying that you won’t find the exact phrase, ‘pray for your children,’ in the Bible. What you will find is a repository of training instructions for parents.
I do not say this to dissuade anyone from prayer. No. If you’ve been here long enough or even know me, you’d know that I do not take praying for granted. This post is to remind you, or show you, one of those scriptures where God clearly instructs on how to raise our children. Indeed, unless we have trained a child in the way he should go, to live a Christ-centered life, we cannot say we have done well as parents.

Setting the scene
Proverbs 22:6 AMP
[6] Train up a child in the way he should go [teaching him to seek God’s wisdom and will for his abilities and talents], Even when he is old he will not depart from it. [Eph 6:4; 2 Tim 3:15]

If you’re thinking…
How then did Solomon turn away from God?
I won’t answer that question.
A few days ago, my older son, about to turn in for the night, asked me:
‘Mummy, do you think King Solomon is in heaven?’
My response was that I didn’t know.
However, considering his last words in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 NLT:
[13] That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. [14] God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.

I’m inclined to hope that, after a time of running rampant, he came back to the training and instructions he was once taught, confirming Proverbs 22:6.

The Crux
After the Ten Commandments were delivered to the Israelites, God called for a wholehearted commitment to following him, and he gave the following instructions to the people of Israel.

1. Deuteronomy 6:5 NLT
[5] And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
It’s this simple: we cannot teach effectively what has not consumed us. Otherwise, we will be running from the pillar of authoritative to authoritarian parenting, leaving the kids with questions about disparities between the God we preach to them and the lives we model to them. It’s not that we are perfect humans, but our children must be able to see how we love God and how we are being transformed. That love will transform our relationship with our kids, too. A home full of love clearly spoken, shown and shared is a haven everyone thrives in. God’s perfect love, modelled in our relationship with God, and with our children is like the soil on which the seeds of parenting are planted.

2. Deuteronomy 6:6 NLT
[6] And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.
* What frames your life?
* What are your values and principles built on?
In the United Kingdom, primary school children at a certain age participate in a classroom activity called ‘show and tell.’ They bring something to class to show their classmates and talk about it. As parents, we can’t just show or tell. Our wholehearted commitment to following God must be seen in how we live, and when we teach our children God’s ways, they can see what it’s really like to serve God.

3. Deuteronomy 6:7 NLT
[7] Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.

Every moment in a child’s life is suitable for theology. God didn’t ask them to only teach his instructions during their gatherings. As families, they were to use every opportunity to talk to the children about God’s ways. When your child is telling you about how they helped another kid understand a difficult concept at school, it is a good moment to remind them that the Spirit inside them births kindness. When their minds are blown away by the movie hero that sacrificed greatly for his community, remind them that God sacrificed greatly for us when he sent his only begotten son to die for our sins. We cannot outsource spiritual training to Sunday schools or CRS lessons in schools. It is our primary responsibility as parents that, in aligning with the will of God to bring godly children from our homes, we teach our children God’s word.

4. Deuteronomy 6:8-9 NLT
[8] Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. [9] Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

The children of Israel were to be so in tune with God’s instructions. Just as words tattooed on skin or a signage on a wall were permanent fixtures, God wanted His word to be a permanent fixture in their hearts. God wants his word to be a permanent fixture in our hearts, too—not as memory verses of words without knowledge, but as life coursing through our souls. Yet, it is our duty to tie, wear, and write them. It is our duty to teach our children what it means to be devoted to God and to daily fellowship with God.

Neither the most expensive education nor extensive prayer meetings can raise godly kids. As good as those things are, they can’t. As Christians, we have a mandate to raise more than good kids who are well accomplished in society. We have been tasked with the goal of raising a godly generation. It is our duty to search the scriptures to discover how God says we can achieve this. Parenting books are a great guide, but the Bible is replete with knowledge.

Have you found parenting lessons from scriptures? Kindly share in the comments.

Love,

Osi