Today I witnessed a miracle. Remember how I told you that one of my sons wrestles with being selfish? Well, this morning, he woke up tired after a late night at the Fair. He was crabby, emotional and selfish with a capital “S”. I thought for sure I might strangle him before lunch.
Instead I decided to pray. What a concept, huh? I gathered my kids all together for a reminder session about how we should be behaving and treating one another. My husband happened to stop in at home to grab something so I grabbed him and asked him to pray with us. So I prayed for general family stuff, but then I prayed specifically for my son that God would turn this day around for him and that the Holy Spirit would work in his heart and convict him of anything he needed to deal with.
I don’t know what it is but for some reason I tend to operate under this false thinking that my children are not old enough for the Holy Spirit to work in their lives. It’s like as if I have this mentality that the Holy Spirit doesn’t work until you are an adult. That is so not true, but why do I act like that? My child has prayed to receive Jesus in his heart and he hears the Word of God daily. We talk daily about how he can live his life for God. So why do I negate the power of the Holy Spirit to work in my child? Foolishness! I was proven wrong with what happened next.
About an hour later, after some time outside by himself, my son came inside and announced to me that he doesn’t want to be selfish with his toys any longer. He wants to share his toys with whoever wants to play with them. He doesn’t care if the toys are in his basket or not. He wants everyone to be able to play with his toys whenever they want. Did I tell you that this announcement was without any prompting from me?
I was in shock, but why in the world was I in shock? If I pray for the Holy Spirit to work in the life of my child, why am I shocked when He hears my prayer and answers it? Isn’t that what He promises in His Word?
Be encouraged that when you dare to tackle heart issues and pray for God to respond…He will. God is faithful in the little and the big stuff along the way. He cares about you and your child in equal measure.
“I don’t know what it is but for some reason I tend to operate under this false thinking that my children are not old enough for the Holy Spirit to work in their lives. It’s like as if I have this mentality that the Holy Spirit doesn’t work until you are an adult.” I think this about kids, and often about people in general who’re younger than me. Haha, it’s sooo prideful!
praise God for that one!
Hi – love your blog! 🙂 Your writing made me laugh out loud this morning. You know what’s funny, you live in a different state than me and with a different group of kids – BUT, you have ALL the same issues that we have at our house. ha! Too funny. 🙂 I love your idea about the coupons for computer/TV time – very smart!
Blessings. 🙂
That is wonderful! What an encouragement!