A Parent’s Prayer

For all of you who have children, or who care for children, the The Book of Common Prayer offers this prayer.  It has become something I pray for my four children regularly.

God our Father, you see your children growing up in an unsteady and confusing world.  Show them that your ways give more life than the ways of the world, and that following you is better than chasing after selfish goals. Help them to take failure, not as a measure of their worth, but as a chance for a new start. Give them strength to hold their faith in you, and to keep alive their joy in your creation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The most poignant part for me right now is the part about how they take failure.  This is my earnest prayer for one of my boys during this season of life.

Related posts:

1. Prayer for the Week: Bless the Children
2. Meditative Prayer
3. Prayer for the Week: Computer Time