Lord, I Bring My Children to You Today

Good morning. This is Morning Prayer from Bearing Fruit.

One day, people started bringing their children to Jesus, hoping He would lay His hands on them, and His disciples tried to send them away. If your children were the first thing on your mind this morning, we'll do what those people did, with children of any age. Let's bring this to God together.

In Mark chapter ten, verses thirteen to sixteen, we read this.

Now people were bringing the little children to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them, and the disciples rebuked those who brought them. But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and told them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And He took the children in His arms, placed His hands on them, and blessed them.

Mark 10:13-16

The disciples tried to keep those children away, and Jesus was indignant. It's a strong word. The people had only hoped He'd lay His hands on the children. He took them in His arms.

One of you is packing a lunch box this morning, wondering who your daughter will sit with today. Someone else has a son who's thirty, and every time they pass his photo in the hallway, they think about how far from God he seems. The children on your mind might be grandchildren, or children in your care.

Those children were little. Yours may be grown. You can still bring them to Jesus in prayer.

Isaiah describes the Lord coming with might to rule. Then he says this.

He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes.

Isaiah 40:11

The arm that rules is the arm that gathers the lambs, and He looks after the ewes still feeding their young.

Moses told Israel how God's words should live in a home.

These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts. And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7

If that brings back every chance you think you missed, look at where it starts. The words go on your own heart first, and then into everyday life at home. If your children are grown, your part now may be mostly prayer, and the way you love them.

Jesus' blessing isn't a promise that our children will believe, or that nothing will go wrong for them. We can still pray for them. Paul knelt before the Father for the church in Ephesus, and he prayed this.

I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

Ephesians 3:16-17

We can ask the same for our children. Their inner being is the part of them we can't reach. God's Spirit can.

In the middle of our passage, Jesus says the kingdom has to be received like a little child. Those children hadn't earned His welcome. They were brought to Him, and He blessed them. He was on His way to Jerusalem then, to give His life for us and rise again. So you can come as a child yourself this morning. You don't need the right words first, and His welcome doesn't hang on how your children are doing. If you've lost a child, or longed for one who hasn't come, you're welcome here too. Change any words that don't fit.

Let's pray. You can pray these words with me, out loud or in your heart.

Father, my children were the first thing on my mind this morning, so I've brought them with me. Your Son welcomed children when others tried to send them away. He went on to Jerusalem and gave His life for my sins, and You raised Him from the grave. So I come to You through Him, as Your child too.

You're strong enough to rule everything You've made, and Your word says, “He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart.” I've seen that heart in Jesus. When His friends tried to keep the children away, He told them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them!” You didn't turn those children away, and You don't turn me away either.

You know what I've been carrying since I woke up. I'm worried about my children. Some of it I can name, like a choice I'm afraid one of them will make, or a distance between us I don't know how to cross. Some of it's only a weight in my chest. It comes from loving them, and it's more than I can hold. So I'm handing it to You.

I have things to confess, too. I've been sharp with them when I was tired, and I've lectured when I should have listened. At times I've acted as if their lives were mine to run. Forgive me, Father. Jesus carried these sins to the cross, and in Him I'm forgiven.

Now I'm bringing my children to You, the way those people brought theirs to Jesus. I say their names to You now.

Do for them what Jesus did for those children. Hold them, and bless them. I ask what Paul asked. Out of the riches of Your glory, strengthen them with power through Your Spirit in their inner being. Let Christ dwell in their hearts through faith. Where they're hurting, comfort them. Where they're wandering, keep calling them home. Keep them from harm, and when hard things come anyway, be near them in it. And put Your words on my own heart first, so that what my children hear from me comes from there.

I can't make my children believe, and I can't keep every hard thing away from them. You made them, and You love them more than I do. I put their hearts and their future into Your hands. Your Son said the kingdom has to be received like a little child, so I come as Your child this morning, with nothing to bring You but their names.

I pray for other families this morning. For parents who were up in the night with a sick baby. For a grandmother raising her grandchildren on her own. For anyone whose arms feel empty, who's lost a child or is still waiting for one. Hold them close to Your heart. And for children who woke up today with no one praying for them, let someone notice them, and let them know You do.

Before this day begins, I bring my children to You, Father. Wherever they wake up this morning, near me or far away, You're already there. When they come to mind in the middle of a meeting, or while I'm folding their laundry, let the worry turn into a prayer. If I see them today, help me listen more than I talk. Let them see something of Your welcome in my face. If I don't hear from them, keep me from filling the silence with the worst. Your Son “took the children in His arms, placed His hands on them, and blessed them.” I'm placing mine in those same arms today, and I'm leaving them there.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Take a moment of quiet now, and bring Him whatever's in front of you today.

Hear this blessing from Second John.

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, will be with us in truth and love.

2 John 1:3