Day 20: Earliest Age Possible
Lord, may each of these children come to know You as their Lord and Savior at the earliest age possible. May they each be taught of the Lord, so that their peace would be great. Isaiah 54:13
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
We have prayed for the salvation of our children starting when they were in the womb, or at least since we first saw a picture of our adopted children. We have always prayed that they would come to know the Lord at the earliest age possible. We want them to have very short testimonies! Rather than speaking of all the time of being “lost”, we would love for them to speak of coming to Him at a young age. Of course, everyone goes through difficult times which draw them closer to The Father, but how beautiful to run into people who are able to say, “though I’ve been through hard times which have strengthened my faith, I don’t really remember a time that I didn’t love the Lord.” Though we trust in the Lord to bring about His perfect plans in their lives, we do hope and pray that our children feel that way.
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
Acts 4:12
“This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
1Timothy2:3-4
Often, parents question whether their child’s salvation is “real”. I personally believe that if we are praying fervently for our children to come to know the Lord at the earliest age possible, then why should we be surprised when they do? When children come at an early age into relationship with Jesus, they may have times of renewal when they get older. In my particular story, I became a Christian when I was a little girl, when I knelt beside my bed and prayed with my Daddy. And I believe that God saved me at that point. However, when I was a teenager, I finally understood Lordship. I went with my home church to a retreat when I was 13 years old. At that retreat, I finally understood that Jesus want to be both Savior of our souls, and Lord of our lives. There is a difference. Having a Lord over every aspect of our lives involves a surrendering of our self-reliance and control. Many times, God shows me another area of my life that I have not surrendered to His Lordship. He shows me through His Word, through prayer, and through other people. At that point, I confess and pray and turn around. Neither you nor your child will ever experience all the wonderful things that God has for you, if you have never really met Him in a personal way. There must be an acknowledgment of sin and of a need for a Savior. I believe that our life in Christ is a journey; a wonderful, amazing, journey, which lasts our entire lives. However, we simply cannot experience the journey, if we have not come to personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This journey begins upon salvation, and is fueled by making our personal relationship with God the highest priority. Just as in any relationship, there will be highs and lows. An important time in my spiritual walk came when I realized that just because that “good feeling” went away, didn’t mean Jesus went away. You may need to explain this to your child. In Joshua 1:5, God says: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
I have been a Christian for over 40 years, and I have always found that verse to be true.
