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Praying the Armor of God Over Our Children · 5–Minute Parenting: Tips to Help You Raise Competent, Godly Kids.

• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to another episode of Five Minute Parenting.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Today I have a special guest, Maureen Miller.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: She's an award-winning author who contributes to guideposts, All God's Creatures, as well as several online devotion sites.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: She has stories and essays in more than 20 and 20 compilations to date.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: Maureen lives on a hobby homestead nestled in the mountains of Western North Carolina.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: She lives with her husband, their three children and grandchildren, and she loves to share God's extraordinary character discovered in the ordinary things of life.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: And her first novel, Gideon's book, is due for release in 2025.
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  SPEAKER_00: Make sure that you check the show notes and visit Maureen's website to learn more about her.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, Maureen.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: Hi there.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's so good to be with you.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Glad to have you.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: And Maureen today is going to be sharing about praying the word of God over our children.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: So, Maureen, I'm going to give you the floor and please share with us about this important topic.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'm so so thrilled to share because I do find this more and more in the day and age that we live in so important.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: And it doesn't matter that our children are adults.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: We still are their parents.
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  SPEAKER_01: And we just have to pray this for their protection, as well as our grandchildren and our spouses too, I might add.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: But I just feel, you know, the Bible in Ephesians 6, verses 10 through 20 really spells out the beauty and the power of the armor of God.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: And we all know, many of us know the pieces of that.
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  SPEAKER_01: And I'm just going to break those pieces down and touch on each one.
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  SPEAKER_01: We can just pray that ourselves, our spouses, and our children are covered from head to toe.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: And then they wield their shield and their sword, which are two very important parts of the full armor that God gives us.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: So Ephesians 6, 10 through 20 speaks to this.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: But the first thing that I'm going to mention is the helmet of salvation, which is that which covers our children's heads.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: And 2 Corinthians 10, 5 reminds us that we are to take all thoughts captive and make them obedient to Jesus.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: And in this world that we live in, there are so many things coming at us all the time.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: And we know that the eye sees things and then it translates to thoughts.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: And thoughts then can become sin issues as they begin to think about and dwell upon.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: And it can also lead to depression and all that.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I just believe it's so important with what the world tells us that's so contrary to a life with Jesus, we need to pray for the helmet of salvation to protect our children's heads.
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  SPEAKER_01: The next piece is the breastplate of righteousness to guard the heart.
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  SPEAKER_01: Proverbs 423 says we must guard our hearts above all things, because from it determines the course of one's life.
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  SPEAKER_01: And with social media and so much stimulation, with a desire for quick results, we're so hurried to receive satisfaction, but we must guard our hearts because as the scripture says, and some versions say, out of it flows the wellspring of life.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: And we want the protection of our children's hearts.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: The belt of truth is the next piece I'll speak to, which is Ephesians 4.15 reminds us that we are to speak the truth in love and growing to be more like Christ.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: When our children wear their belt of truth, they're able not only to know truth, but they're also to walk in truth and to speak truth to others.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: And we're so quick to speak.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: But if we can teach our children to speak honestly to others, but with love, they can not only show Jesus to others, but they very well might lead others to Jesus in a beautiful way by speaking truth with love.
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  SPEAKER_01: The next part is the shoes of the gospel for the preparation of peace.
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  SPEAKER_01: And John 14, 27 reminds us that Jesus left us with peace that the world cannot give.
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  SPEAKER_01: Only Jesus can give that peace.
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  SPEAKER_01: And Isaiah 55, 12 says, we will go out with joy and be led forth with peace.
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  SPEAKER_01: We live in a society that is so full of stimulation and we often seek satisfaction outside of our rooted relationship with Jesus Christ.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: And so we must pray for our children that they experience peace, the kind of peace that only Jesus can offer, that only he can give them, and they can then offer that to others along their journey.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: Then we have a very important part of the armor, which is the shield of faith.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: Ephesians 3, 16 and 17 says, I pray that out of his glorious riches, he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, will go forth.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: And we need faith in this life.
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  SPEAKER_01: We're so bombarded all around.
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  SPEAKER_01: And it's so easy to lose heart, to lose faith.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: But if we can pray that our children will have this rooted faith in their hearts, they will walk forward forth into their days each day when they go to school and when they go in, especially into secular academia, where there's so much coming at them that breaks down that faith, and they can be rooted in a faith that will endure.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: And finally, the sword of the spirit.
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  SPEAKER_01: This is so powerful because Hebrews 4:12 reminds us that the word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword.
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  SPEAKER_01: It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, it judges the thoughts and the attitudes of the heart.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: And again, we're speaking there to the heart, but the armor of God kind of ends with this sword of the spirit, which is a weapon that we can wield against the enemy in this dark age in which we live.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: And our children need to hide God's word in his heart, in their hearts, and then they can walk forth, drawing from that wellspring of God's word.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, just as Psalms uh 119 reminds us that um God's word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.
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  SPEAKER_01: And what do we need more in this dark age than our uh sword of the spirit, which is God's very word?
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I just believe wholeheartedly that no matter how little or how grown up our children and grandchildren are, we as parents and grandparents need to pray the full armor of God over our children for their individual and unique needs.
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  SPEAKER_01: And using Ephesians 6 to do this is a beautiful, beautiful tool.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Maureen.
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  SPEAKER_00: That is so important that our children understand that, you know, what they have to battle with, because you're right, today's society um just so much stuff is anti-Christian.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: And if our children don't know how to stand against that, then they will not succeed.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: So it's I really appreciate you breaking down each of the parts of the armor.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I think you're right, we need to help our children understand what the armor is and how to use it, and and how to use it daily.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: You know, sometimes we even forget, but it's just so important to teach our children and to use it for our children.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: So yes, absolutely.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I will just add that with this armor, you know, our children are so unique and different.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: We can pray specifically for those different pieces depending on their particular needs, and that's a beautiful thing to do.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: What a what a privilege to be able to do that for our kids.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I and I know recently your son, who's a policeman, had an experience, and and you were, in fact, he was shot at, but you were alerted that day to pray for him, and he's an adult child.
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  SPEAKER_00: So I know you're gonna have that on your website soon.
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  SPEAKER_00: So I invite people to visit your website and read that story.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's just so inspiring.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, thank you.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: I'll have it there very soon in the next day or so.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: And thank you so much, Maureen, for being our guest today.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Sandra, for the beautiful opportunity.
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  SPEAKER_01: God bless you.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: Me too.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: Bye bye.