I am so excited to pray for my kids to have a love of God's word today. If you know me, AT ALL, I am convinced that memorizing scripture is the best way to defend yourself against the devil and to go after him on the offense as well. It's the only offensive weapon we have according to Ephesians 6. I have been memorizing scripture since a very young age and even memorized entire books of the Bible at a time from 7th-12th grade for Bible Quiz. And most of it, by constant use, I remember at least in pieces. I honestly don't know how I ever would have survived without having God's word living and breathing inside of me through all these years. How can you ever stand against the devil when he hits in the middle of the day if you have to take the time to find a verse to defend yourself with? I would call scripture memory the always ready weapon. And if you say you can't memorize or its too hard, let me tell you that is certainly not God telling you that. Of course the devil wants you in an "I can't" frame of mind so he can beat you more easily. When you realize how important it is, you will make time and you will learn how to memorize. Ok, stepping off of my soap box, kinda, and moving on to praying for my kids.
So you won't be surprised to know that as soon as we got the kids almost a year ago (has it really been that long?) we almost immediately started implementing Bible Scripture memory into their lives as a itof our nightly Bible times and supporting and helping them to learn verses for their Wednesday night and Sunday School classes. I am a firm believer that God's word will always accomplish in our lives what God intends it to, whether it be during and after it is being memorized or years down the road when it resurfaces as God reminds us of his promises.
One of the first passages of scripture we memorized with the kids was I Corinthians 1:4-8. Yes, even my then 4 year old had this memorized. ( By the way, if she could memorize this passage at 4 when she doesn't even know what a lot of the words mean and she certainly can't spell them, so can you!) We said it every night for months, adding one line at a time. We reviewed it a couple of weeks ago and for the most part they still remember it. Why that scripture? Well because the love they knew was not God's love. They knew the love that was bought, and that broke promises, and that was conditional at best. So I wanted them to know, from the beginning, that God's love isn't like that and our love for them isn't like that. Plus, when they were acting poorly I could ask them if they loved me. They would say yes and we could use this verse to tell them that if they loved, they would not be rude or they would not keep track of other's wrongs. Memorizing this passage of scripture also taught them that they could do more than they thought. And the feeling of accomplishment you get when you do something you thought was impossible, is contagious, and enough to make you try something else you thought you couldn't do. It was really good for their self esteem.
Ok, onto the prayer.
For the kids:
God, give my kids a love for your Word. Because it is through your word that we really learn who you are. Give them a passion for hiding your word deep inside so they can know your love on a deeper level and know who you have made them to be. I pray that your Holy Spirit will make your word come alive to them. That it won't just be another book or something they learn because they have to but a treasure they want to hold onto. That their faith in you will be based on your word and your character that do not change and not just on feelings or emotions. Give them understanding beyond their years of what your word is saying and give them a hunger for your word that grows more with each passing day.
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