Friday, June 12, 2009

Confessions for Your Children

To confess, literally, is “to say the same thing.” That is how the English word derives and also what its counterpart in New Testament Greek, homologeo, means. To confess something is to speak in agreement with it. When we confess our sin, as in 1 John 1:9 for example, we are agreeing that they are indeed sinful, things we ought not to have done. When we confess the Lord Jesus, as in Romans 10:9, we are agreeing and affirming that Jesus Christ is indeed our Lord.

When we confess Jesus as our Lord, we have so much more we can confess because we become heir to all the promises of God. And what wonderful promises He has given for us and our children! In difficult times, such as the present economic distress, when we might wonder how our kids are going to make it through, it is good to remember and affirm these promises and expect to receive them, for our children as well as for ourselves.

With that in mind, I have this list of things I confess, based on the Word of God, beginning with the commitment of our household to God. If you find them helpful, you are welcome to use them. If I may recommend, it is good to keep them in your thoughts and in the silences of your heart, but it is also very helpful to speak them aloud, even to shout them. That can be wonderfully freeing, help break the spirit of heaviness and despair, and assist you in laying hold of God’s promises with a vigorous faith. The Bible says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for” (Hebrews 11:1). That is, faith is the underlying reality of what we are expecting (see Faith is Reality and Faith Brings Expectation).

Here are the confessions I speak over my children:
  • Regardless of what anyone else may choose, as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:15)
  • God’s promise of salvation is for our children as well as for us, and they receive it by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 16:31)
  • The empowering gift of the Holy Spirit is for our children as well as for us, and they bring forth the fruit of the Spirit in their lives — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and self-control. (Acts 2:38-39; Galatians 5:22-23)
  • We are blessed in the city, blessed in the country, and our children will also be blessed. (Deuteronomy 28:3-4)
  • The LORD teaches us His ways so that we shall dwell in prosperity and our children shall inherit the land. (Psalm 25:12-13)
  • We shall never be abandoned, not even in old age, and our children shall never have to beg bread. We shall not have to borrow but will have abundance for lending and generosity. Our children will be a blessing because they themselves are blessed. (Psalm 37:25-26)
  • Wealth and riches will be in our house, and our children will be mighty on earth, an upright and blessed generation. (Psalm 112:2-3)
  • The LORD gives us increase more and more, to us and our children, and we are blessed by the LORD, Make of Heaven and Earth. (Psalm 115:14-15)
  • We are imparting a rich inheritance for our children and our children’s children. (Proverbs 13:22)
  • Our children are instructed by the LORD, and great shall be their peace, their shalom — their wholeness and prosperity, nothing missing and nothing broken. (Isaiah 54:13)
See also Confessions and Praying Over Your Children with Power.

No comments:

Post a Comment