Nothing More Powerful
Once, while struggling with a parenting dilemma, I called my sister for advice. Her answer to me was to pray about it. “Heavenly Father answers a mother’s prayers for her children,” she insisted adamantly. Her comment was given with such conviction that it struck me–so simple, yet profound. I prayed all the time. But did I pray over this and other daily dilemmas? Of course He wants to help us mothers, I realized, in all we do to raise children—His children!
A Mother’s Prayers About her kids.
I remember vividly a prayer about my first child. This toddler—I’ll call her Missy—was way too attached to her bottle! She drank from a cup just fine, but wanted that bottle. It was starting to be an annoying daily game, but I couldn’t figure out how to take it away from her. I didn’t want it to be a power struggle, but nothing I had tried had worked, and things were growing worse.
So, I made it a matter of prayer. Then a new idea came! I got out a box. Missy and I put every bottle in the house into the box. It was fun! “Bye, bye, bottles!” we both said to each one; then we put the box way up high in the closet. Missy was perfectly fine with this new little game we were playing. Then later, at naptime, she asked for her “ba ba!” “Remember,” I told her, “the ba ba’s are all gone. We told them goodbye,” and I pointed to the shelf in the closet. She remembered and cried a little but settled down without her bottle. Maybe one or two more times she did the same, but after that there was no thought of bottle at all! Problem solved!
For me, this little success was proof that the Lord cared about my concerns. He gave me this idea and He would help me to raise my children whenever I had a concern. If I had the faith to ask, He would answer my problems through the Holy Ghost, no matter how insignificant they were in the eternal scope of things.
Several years later, a five- or six-year old son began to have trouble going to sleep. He was scared at night, and then stressed that he couldn’t go to sleep quickly. So he asked to sleep by me. At first, I was firm: no, the rule is to sleep in your own bed! However, after prayer, I felt that I needed to help this young boy get through this. I let him sleep on a blanket on the floor in our room. After a few days, all on his own, he decided he was ready to go back to sleep in his own room. Once again, I was so grateful for the direction through prayer!
Another child would have different needs, and another parent would get different answers, of course. That’s the beauty of prayer! God knows our specifics and tailors answers to each of us! “Our Heavenly Father is aware of our needs and will help us as we call upon Him for assistance,” said President Thomas S. Monson. “I believe that no concern of ours is too small or insignificant. The Lord is in the details of our lives.” (“Consider the Blessings” Ensign, Nov. 2012, p. 88)
Another season, it was time for several kids to get immunizations. I left the doctor’s office that day after catching up with those shots, promising my kids we would have no more shots for five years! But then, the very next visit, the nurse told me about a new shot for hepatitis, that required not one, but two shots for each child, six months apart! I was ready to bag this new shot in order to keep my promise to the kids! After all, it was brand new so maybe not proven safe yet, and besides, it hadn’t been necessary for my older kids! But when I offered a quick prayer about it, I got a strong impression that I should go ahead with the shots! I explained the prompting to my kids as best I could, and apologized to them for the change in plans. I urged them to have courage, and went forward with those shots, trusting in the prompting I had received. And much later, when it was time for my oldest two boys to leave on missions to Argentina, the hepatitis shot was required. At that point, it would have been too late to get both shots—six months apart! (And I certainly didn’t want them to get shots in Argentina!) I was so grateful for that prayer and the guidance I had received from the Spirit!
Another family may receive an adamant “no” answer, regarding immunizations. That was just what we right for us.
I have thought of my sister’s words many times and have gained my own testimony that there is no parenting concern too little to bring to the Lord, and that He will send ideas and help. I have also noticed that the Lord doesn’t require me to be perfect before I ask! But it does feel good to acknowledge my weaknesses before Him and to be diligently trying to do better. I know He is willing and waiting to answer and help.
A Mother’s Prayers For Her Children.
A mother’s prayers in behalf of her children are mighty important too. Many a young person has been in trouble, then a tender mercy has saved him or her, due to the timely prayers of a mother. In fact, Boyd K. Packer said, “There are few things more powerful than the faithful prayers of a righteous mother.” (“These Things I Know,” Ensign, May 2013, p. 7)
When my husband Mark was in Junior High, he had a bully threaten to beat him up after school. His mother had felt uneasy that day, and sensed something was wrong, so she had been praying for him. Remarkably, just as the group gathered to do the damage, a police car drove by, so the crowd dissolved, and the incident was forgotten! Mark knew it was because of his mother’s prayers for him!
Our family has also been blessed by prayers. One morning at family prayer, I felt impressed to pray for our kids’ safety that day to and from school. That afternoon, I got a call that my eight-year-old son was struck by a car while riding his bike on the way home from school! I raced down the street, fearing the worst! But amazingly, he ended up with only minor injuries and a couple of baby teeth knocked out! I looked back at that prayer with such gratitude.
Another time, my 15- and 17-year-olds were T-boned as they drove to high school one morning. Once again, I remembered family prayer that morning had included a plea for their safety. Turns out, the oncoming car hit the side of my teenagers’ car in front of them then swung around the car and hit again behind them—missing the area of the front bench where the two kids were seated! The only casualty was a scrape on my daughter’s knee! Once more, we were grateful for protection in answer to prayers for the safety of our kids.
MY FAVORITE IDEA:
A Mother Teaching Prayer
“When do I start teaching my child to pray?” a new mom-to-be asked me one time. I urged her to “train up a child in the way he should go” (Proverbs 22:6) by praying with her baby from day one! Part of a tiny baby’s nighttime routine can be to take them in your arms and pray with them and for them.
The baby’s bedtime routine can be simple, such as: 1. Saying good-night to Daddy and siblings, 2. Diaper change and Pajamas while Mommy sings a lullaby, 3.“Brush teeth” (or gum the toothbrush for a couple of minutes!), and 4.Prayers by the crib before laying the baby down. Prayers for us consisted of me holding the baby next to my face and then closing my eyes to say a short prayer to thank Heavenly Father for something good that day and to ask for a good night’s sleep.
I would write out this nightly routine for me, so I would do it the same each time. But also, I liked to tape it up for Daddy or Grandma or a babysitter to use when they put the baby to bed. Also, I used a similar routine for naptime, to signal time for sleeping again!
For some of my babies, since the prayer meant that going to bed came next, the baby would start to cry during it! I didn’t want a prayer to be negative! So, I simply rearranged the routine to put the prayer earlier and had something else be right before I put the baby in the crib!
Gradually, the baby will grow to be able to kneel by you, but that is not required to begin. Much, much earlier, a baby can learn the words of prayer and feel the reverence that goes with it as you are voice to his words of prayer. This way, there never has to be a transition to start praying at night, since they have always prayed!
A Mother’s Prayers Can Be an Influence for Good.
Our children learn the most from what we are. If they find us kneeling by our bed in fervent prayer, they will also turn to prayer in their lives. At first, they may ask us to pray with them or for them, such as “Mom, will you pray for me to do my best on my test today?”
Or, “Mom, I have a hard decision to make. Will you pray with me?”
Or, “Mom, I am not sure about this party. Will you pray and see if you feel okay about it?”
Of course, we want our kids to gradually make more and more of their own choices, but in the meantime, we can help them with hard decisions by praying along with them separately or together. Our kids will come to trust our answers as truly from God. They will respect our answers especially if we are working to live a life in tune with God’s will.
And after a time, we will begin to hear, “It’s OK, Mom! I prayed about it, and I feel a good feeling about this decision.” God bless us mothers as we try our best to include Him in the tricky rearing of our child all the way through their lives.
NOTE: Even as I address a mother’s special role, I know of course that fathers too are entitled to inspiration in their guidance and care of children. They also can teach prayer, as can grandparents, aunts and uncles, even babysitters. We mothers need help from all of these!