a prayer meditation

Just over two weeks ago our son had a scary fall from a roof, 20 feet down onto concrete. You can probably imagine the frantic prayers a parent prays at times like this. In fact, the hours of the first few days and nights blurred into one long prayer.

It's at times like that I really appreciate a little book I bought some years ago. Praying with Fire by Barbara Billett is a collection of prayers based on Scripture. The prayer for children is one I've been reading/praying over and over.

In the last few days I've also been meditating on the Bible passages these prayers are based on (they're listed at the bottom of each prayer, in the order they occur). Isaiah 54:13 is one of those verses:

All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
And great shall be the peace of your children.


ALL YOUR CHILDREN - children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren...

"TAUGHT BY THE LORD" - how does He do it?
- through nature.
- through the Bible.
- through the experience and counsel of others.
- through their own experiences - including tragedy, loss, sickness, disaster - and good times too.
- through miracles - dreams, visions, miracles, healings.

"AND GREAT SHALL BE THE PEACE OF YOUR CHILDREN."
That's an interesting outcome. Not wealth or intelligence, favor, or joy but peace.
- A state of mental or physical quiet or tranquility; calm, repose
- Absence or cessation of war
- Public order - freedom from riot or violence
- Reconciliation after strife or enmity
- Freedom from mental agitation or anxiety


Lord, teach our children. Bring peace to them - and us. Amen.

A sampling of the prayers in Praying with Fire is on The Miracle Channel website. Here is the "Prayer for Children". Other prayers are linked at the top of the page.