A Mother's (Unoriginal) Prayer

Today, as I was blogstalking, I came across a post about praying for your children. So since I have not-an-original bone in my body, I decided that this would be a good topic for a blog of my own. I heard my youth minister say one time that she prayed three things for her daughter every single day. So, again with the inability to produce original thoughts, I adopted that same prayer when our first child was born thirteen years ago and have prayed it for both of our daughters every since.
The first thing I pray for is a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. This has now become a praise, because both of our girls have made public professions of faith. Instead of slacking off though, now my prayer has become that they will act on that saving knowledge every single day, that they will be ambassadors for Christ, and that their thoughts, talents and actions would all be directed toward bringing God glory.
Secondly, I pray for the friends they make. When I was growing up, especially at the age that HannahKate is now, my friends were everything to me. So I pray for the salvation and spiritual lives of the girls (and boys, ugh) that my children trust and value as friends.
Third, I pray for their future spouses. There's an old Wayne Watson song, Water-Colored Ponies, that talks about praying for the little girls that will grow up to marry his little boys. Its terribly sappy, but it is honestly a beautiful illustration. My mother knew long before I did who I would marry. She might not have known his name, but she called out the qualities and character traits boldly before the Lord on my behalf. I still remember when I was a freshman in high school, she said to me, "You know that little Joel, he is so handsome and he looks at you with such kind eyes." Of course, I rolled my eyes and sighed. (I've made a mental note to never try to steer my girls in the direction of a particular boy because that only drives them away. Instead I have a secret list of boys I'm praying for in case any of them turn out to be "that little Joel") Oh, and I also pray for their future mother-in-laws. When I say this, people think I'm kidding. But I'm not. I am so very blessed by both my mother-and-father-in-law, that I want my children to enjoy that same blessing. The way I see it, they are the ones responsible for raising the man I love so much, and they did a darn good job! So many of my friends have meddling or wildly disfunctional in-laws. I pray that somewhere in the world right now, there are two sets of parents praying for their sons, the girls (Hannah and Hallie) they will marry and maybe even praying for me, too! (I sure hope so, because I need all the prayers I can get.)
So there you have it. The three things I pray over my children. Do I miss a day? Occasionally. Do I claim to be the perfect parent? Pshhh, far from from it. But, do I still believe God will answer my prayers? Absolutely.
"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4