Parenting with the Lord's Prayer: Creating Stability

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10 NIV)

When you set boundaries with your children, they may push back, but they will also feel secure when those boundaries stand firm.

Study any psychological test and they’ll tell you the most insecure place for a kid to be is at the center of his or her family – controlling all the strings, getting their way in everything.

Kids instinctively know they do not belong in the center of the family; it creates great insecurity in their lives. Where kids find stability and security is in having boundaries. This is true from the moment they are born. We take little babies and wrap them up tightly. It’s called swaddling and being tightly bound gives the baby a feeling of security.

When you set boundaries with your children, they may push back, but they will also feel secure when those boundaries stand firm. They learn that you really do care about them. It’s when children don’t have those boundaries, and feel they can get away with anything, that they begin to question their parents’ love.

In the same way children need to know God’s purpose for their life is part of God’s larger plan. This creates boundaries of identity for them. It let’s them know that life is not all about them.

And in understanding God’s plan, they are able to find the answers to the basic questions of life: who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? Where did I come from? Does my life have meaning? What is my purpose and how should I live it out? Why is this happening to me?

When you teach a child, “thy kingdom come, they will be done” you are teaching them that God has a master plan for history, but he also has a specific plan for their lives.

by Rick Warren

Parenting with the Lord's Prayer: Overcoming Insecurity

...this is for all parents, soon to be parents and  who are dreaming to be parents..May the following articles helps you in upbringing your children in the way God will be pleased.


Our father in heaven …” Matthew 6:9 (NIV)

"If God likes me and I like me, but you don't like me, what's your problem?"

The number one problem kids have growing up is insecurity. Our society is trained to compete and compare instead of co-operate. So from the moment a child is born, he or she is taught to compare everything – appearance, achievement, affluence, even athletic ability (remember gym class?).

What we need to teach children from an early age, even before they get into school, is: God is my father, he loves me unconditionally, and he will never stop loving me.

If our children can understand and absorb that truth then, when they are confronted with someone who wants to diminish their self-worth, they can have the confidence to say, “If God likes me and I like me, but you don’t like me, what’s your problem?”

Unfortunately, most kids don’t grow up with that kind of confidence. They grow up under the cloud of comparison, constantly asking, “What does everybody else think of me?”

That’s why it is important to teach children that God is their ultimate, heavenly Father. And they need to understand that God is not like some earthly dads they may have encountered.

So what kind of Father is God? He’s …

1. Caring. God is a caring Father who loves you and will never stop loving you. Some dads don’t care, but your heavenly Father cares about you all the time.

2. Close. God is a close Father. Some dads are distant, but your heavenly Father has promised, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you” (Hebrews 13:5 NLT).

3. Consistent. God is a consistent Father. Some dads are fickle and moody, but your heavenly Father is never changing.

4. Capable. God is a capable Father. Some dads are like Homer Simpson; they can’t do anything. But your heavenly Father is capable, able to do all things.

When you teach your children that God is their Father and they choose to become his children, then the issue of insecurity is settled because they will understand that they are loved by the person who controls the universe. And that puts everything else, even dodge ball, into perspective.

by Rick Warren