I remember the night in the Spring of 1996. I was almost 17 years old and was going through a kind of rebellious phase in my life.
I had found the pleasure of partying and the odd alcoholic drink and this night would be one of those parties where my friends and I got to go to a party that was overflowing with “good times”! Well, that was my thought at the time. You see I wasn’t a bad kid, just a kid who wanted to have a good time. I thought there was nothing wrong with that, so when my father asked where I was going that night I was straight up with him. I told him I was going to a party on the other side of town and he had no need to worry because I wasn’t going to get into any trouble.
My father had a different feeling and requested that I didn’t go. Like most 17 year old boys, I thought I knew best so I said, “I’m going and there is nothing you can do about it”! So I left, walked to my friends house where a few other friends of mine were, then made our way to the bus stop to catch a bus to the other side of town.
The problem was, that I could not get the conversation with my father out of my head. As I walked all I saw was a picture of him on his knees praying for his son. This bothered me to the core. However, as I met my friends and walked to the bus stop this picture in my head got more intense until I could hear his prayers in my ears as loud as a whistle.
After waiting ten minutes for the bus, it finally arrived. All my friends got on and as I put one foot on, I heard a voice as clear as day say, “do not go”! This was enough for me. I told my friends I didn’t feel well and wasn’t going to go. The bus left and I started to walk home. As I walked I got more and more angry until I got to my front door, opened it and yelled, “it’s okay, you can stop praying, I didn’t go”! Then I went into the room my father usually prayed in and repeated the same sentence and then stormed upstairs to my bedroom slammed the door and didn’t come out for the rest of the night.
I would like to say that night I became a new person. However, I came to the realization that God’s hand was on my life and the main reason for that was the prayers of my parents. I found out that all kinds of ungodly things happened at that party and one of my friends told me I did the wisest thing out of all of them.
Many parents would have either not bothered where their kids were going, others would have grounded their kids, while others would have just killed themselves with worry. Not my parents! My parents did the only thing they knew, that was to get on their knees and cry out to God to protect their son. It was because of this daily action of prayer for their kids that I did not become like a lot of my friends. It is because of their prayers that I turned around and devoted my life fully to God and it is because of their prayers that now I live my life doing exactly what they did; getting on my knees and praying before God.
Are you a parent and are having problems with your kids. You can do everything they write in books, but the most effective and best way to deal with your kids is to get on your knees everyday and ask the living God to protect and speak into their lives. You never know, there could be a night in their future when they will hear your prayers that will save them from a night of devastation.
