So Then, How Shall I Pray

I have prayed for my children since birth. Before birth even. Even before conception. Prayed to be a good mama. Prayed for their health.......10 toes 10 fingers.......remember? Prayed for each and every little pain. Prayed for their future spouses, careers, friends, choices decisions.
But my prayers have taken a turn. Not a list. Something deeper. For my children are not simply extensions of me. They are their own people
Lord, allow them to see how uniquely created they are. To hear the voice of their own passions and not succumb to becoming what anyone else tries to put upon them but to do what is uniquely suited to them. Help me to be sensitive to that. Allow me to let them go. To let them make decisions. To love without conditions. I want to be a cheerleader and coach. The one who encourages them onward when they feel beaten down. I want to sense who you are creating them to be and not to stand in the way of that. I want to believe for them that no dream is too big or impossible because nothing is impossible for You.

That's a little sample of how I've changed. I still pray for them, but I've noticed that my prayers have also become about me becoming the person I need to be in order to allow them to become who they are. Oh, I'm still bossy. To the youngers. I still have high expectations. But, I look harder for their gifts and talents and joys. I look to see how to encourage them in taking the next step. I offer the suggestion of them praying and reading their Bibles, but I don't push the issue anymore. I want them to thirst after their God because He is indeed theirs. I want them to long to know the One who created those dreams in their hearts. But my pushing will only push them away. I have to get out of the way enough to allow that God to woo them Himself. He is able.
As they get older, the prayers are more fervent. More on the line. I have to learn to see them through the eyes of their Father. I have to learn to know that they will be fine. No matter what comes. I can't control things. I can only encourage, love, pray and try to show compassion.
So, then, how shall I pray? Often. For my insight and their choices. For my tender heart and their wisdom. I shall pray for both of us. That they may grow in wisdom and stature and in favor with both God and man.
blessings,
rhonda