The Prayer Every Parent Should Pray

In the book of Nehemiah, we see an incredible story of a man determined to accomplish his God-given task, no matter what the obstacles. With the audacious goal of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem (a wall that had been a rubble for the past 100 years), Nehemiah faced opposition on every side from his enemies.

In Nehemiah 6, we catch a glimpse of his focus and determination that led him to accomplish in fifty-two days what had not been accomplished for a century. Towards the end of the project, when the wall was almost completed, Sanballat and other enemies of Nehemiah tried to distract him by getting him down off of his wall. His response should become our prayer:

1 When word came to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left in it—though up to that time I had not set the doors in the gates— 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.”

But they were scheming to harm me; 3 so I sent messengers to them with this reply: “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?” 4 Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the same answer. Nehemiah 6:1-4

Parents, your children are your wall. They are your great work. You have been given an incredible gift and responsibility from God: to nurture and care for precious souls and to bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Don’t let anything distract you from that great work. If you have children in your house, you need to speak this truth as a prayer over them every night after they go to sleep: “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.”