Prayers for my boys

I pray for my sons. Often. There aren't a lot of things that I could tell you for which I pray persistently over years. But my boys - yes.

I always check on them before I go to sleep every night -- to replace socks that got pulled off, to pull up the covers or to rearrange Andrew's body from the strange positions in which he falls asleep. And Luke's favorite surprise is to poop in his sleep so I have to wake him, change it and then put him back down. So a lot of times I will give them an extra kiss or just stand and stare at them a moment (or duck below the crib when Luke raises his head!) And some nights I pray at that time for them. Like last night. I left each room and then just paused at the door and prayed with my hands on their doors.

I've prayed all kinds of prayers for each of them -- some of my favorites are that they would be lovers of God's word, that they would have a teachable spirit that leans naturally toward obediance, that the space around their beds would be only for the Lord while they sleep, that they would hear God's voice and recognize the sound of it, that the 2 of them would be friends because of their brotherhood in Jesus and not just in the flesh, that they might have nothing to inhibit soaking up love from us and from God. I've prayed that they would be free from generational things in our family, that they might not run after accomplishments or money... that they would be men who stuck out like a sore-thumb in the world because of the way that they effortlessly combine strong masculinity with a spirit that oozes the love of Jesus to others.

Last night I stood at their doors and noticed the differences in what I prayed for them -- for Andrew I prayed that his adventurous spirit would never be squashed but that the Holy Spirit would produce the fruit of self-control in him. I prayed that his physical strength and vigor would be a symbol of being a spiritual giant in the Kingdom of God. I prayed for him to always love God's word and have a teachable spirit that wanted to obey.

And for Luke I prayed that God would always bring him shepherds - men in his life at every age that would complement the teachings and shepherding of his father, Bill. That shepherding would be so modeled for Luke that he couldn't help but shepherd others. I asked that God's compassion would come forward through his life. And I prayed for him to always love God's word and have a teachable spirit that wanted to obey.

I prayed for the joy of the Lord - zeal, fun and laughter to be spread wherever either of my sons are.

Someday I'd love to know all the fruit that comes from mother's prayers. I just believe in faith that it's part of my inheritance in the Lord to one day understand what all those silent prayers have meant to the Kingdom and to my kids.