As a mom of two beautiful young ladies I am blessed beyond words. Being blessed however,comes with its own set of challenges!

I have come to realise that even though my girls are now young adult women, I cannot sit back and hang up my prayer boots. The prayers that I prayed for the first few years of their lives through their baby years to teenage years and beyond are different to the prayers I pray now in so many ways but the frequency is the same.

As adult women they are free to make choices that I won’t aways agree with- the issue is not whether or not I agree but whether or not their choices are in line with God’s plans and purposes for their lives. This is where prayer is the key to their future.

My prayer covering over them is as essential as the air they breath. As a mom it is not just a decision but an absolute necessity for me to pray specific prayers for them. They may not always like what I say or what my opinion is, but God’s word and His opinion is not subjective like mine is.

We as mothers have the privilege and the mandate to stand in that gap between God and our kids no matter what age they are. What I’ve realised is that as much as I want my girls to be happy – what mother wants her kids to be unhappy?-, their happiness is NOT the most important thing if it is leading them away from the plans and purposes of God.

Our children will face challenges and obstacles in life. That is a certainty. If we pray every obstacle out of their way, how will they ever grow strong? If we take on every challenge of theirs as our own, how will they ever learn to navigate through difficult seasons? Our focus should rather be on them learning new things from their challenges and growing through difficulties.

We pray for the them to have the knowledge and wisdom to use their God given tools to make those obstacles become opportunities,

We pray for greatness and not pride,

We pray for humility but not low self esteem,

We pray for righteousness but not self righteousness ,

We pray for compassion but not gullability,

We pray for confidence but not arrogance,

We pray for happiness but not at the expense of their wholeness.

We stand in the gap and we pray, pray and pray continuously! The fine line is that we do not hinder their growth or stand in their way of becoming who God wants them to be even if it is not in line with our personal desires for them!

I have seen division in families and it is the one thing that I am so aware can happen so easily. I want my girls to know that they are always covered in prayer and that they have been released from my will into His- that way I am not responsible for their future as adults but a catalyst to them fulfilling that future Gods way. Our prayers are that boundary on the highways of their lives that protects them from the steep slope alongside the road. Separate but ever present, strong and sturdy but not invasive.

But what the Lord has planned will stand forever.His thoughts never change. The Lord looks at the world from his throne in heaven,and he watches us all. The Lord gave us each a mind,and nothing we do can be hidden from him. Psalm 33:11,13-15

Let my passion for life be restored, tasting joy in every breakthrough you bring to me. Hold me close to you with a willing spirit that obeys whatever you say. Psalm 51:12