The Daniel Prayer for Parents by George Sawyer

Author:George Sawyer [Sawyer, George]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Charisma House
Published: 2015-06-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

PRAYER PRINCIPLE #3: A RESOLVE TO SERVE GOD

But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine.

—DANIEL 1:8

YOU MAY REMEMBER the story. Daniel had been handpicked to serve the king, and he was to be given food and wine from the king’s table. But Daniel refused to indulge. Why? Was eating the king’s food really such a big deal? In a word, yes!

Daniel had resolved that no matter what he faced in Babylon, he would continue to serve his God. His circumstances would not cause him to compromise his faith.

How could eating the king’s food cause him to compromise? I’m glad you asked. It was customary in Babylon during Daniel’s time for the king’s meat to have first been offered to a demonic idol before it was eaten. Daniel knew this, and it would have been a violation of his conscience and his faith to eat food or drink sacrificed to idols. Daniel was determined that nothing would come between him and his God.

The prayer focus we will discuss in this chapter is the most important one of all. It is the center of the five facets of the Daniel Prayer, and it should be the center of your prayers for your children. Seeing your children come into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ should be the pinnacle of your prayer life because it is the greatest gift you could ever give them.

Praying for our children to resolve to serve God begins with asking Him to give them a firsthand revelation of Jesus Christ. They must encounter Him for themselves and make their own decision to accept Christ as their Savior. A secondhand faith—relying on their parents’ faith instead of their own—will not cut it in this culture. Daniel had to stand on his own relationship with God. When his faith was challenged, he was able to remain firm because of his own commitment to follow God, not because of his parents’ or grandparents’ faith.

Only a personal relationship with God will give our children that kind of resolve. Spiritually speaking, God has no grandchildren, just children. The baton of personal faith must be passed to each succeeding generation. They cannot rely on our relationship with God. They must develop one for themselves.

When our children must stand alone, when they have to make a decision to be faithful to God when it’s not easy or popular, their strength will be drawn only from the well of their own personal faith. The resolve to serve God is a product of a person’s relationship with Him.

But I encourage you to think of it this way: God has entrusted you with a high and holy calling as a parent. You are the vessel He has chosen to introduce your child to the incomparable gift of salvation. God trusts you with this task, and He has equipped and enabled you to do it.

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