March 13

March 13 - For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  John 3:16  (Power of a Praying Parent daily, Stormie Omartian)

There are so many elements or 'nuggets' in this verse that you could literally spend hours studying it word by word and receiving enlightenment from it.  Today we focus on "BELIEVES".  The word 'believes' is an action word, indicating that we must take part and actually DO something.  The Full Life Study Bible says, "To believe includes three main elements: (a) a sure conviction that Jesus Christ is God's Son and the only Savior for lost humanity; (b) a self-surrendering fellowship with and obedience to Christ; (c) a fully assured trust in Christ that He is both able and willing to bring you to final salvation and to fellowship with God in heaven."  Unfortunately for some of our children, they never establish their own belief foundation!  Often, our children believe in God because we do!  They 'believe' in God because of what we tell them and that's good for understanding, but he/she can't really, truly believe in God and receive the everlasting life promised in John 3:16 if he/she doesn't KNOW AND BELIEVE GOD for himself/herself.

Lord, we pray that our sons and daughters will know You today for themselves!  We declare that our children will know that You will never leave them nor forsake them.  We declare that our children will seek You as a present help in the time of trouble.  We declare that there will no longer be a veil of grandmomma's relationship, momma's relationship, or daddy's relationship with You, but my son/daughter will KNOW AND BELIEVE YOU as The True and Living God!!  He/she will know You and not just Your names.  He/she will know You and not just what You can do, know You in all of Your splendor and glory, know You as the Revealer of Truth, know You as The Deliverer, know You as The Way out of whatever situation they may encounter...Oh God, they will KNOW AND BELIEVE!  In Jesus' name, Amen!!