A Prayer: Guard Their Hearts

Their hearts are so soft, so open and so trusting. But they are dirty, already. From the moment of birth, deep in their hearts, a seed of pride began to grow. And it grows more and more demanding every day. It threatens, even now, to spread and latch itself on to every inclination, every moment, and every vein. Sins’ roots sprout evil thoughts, immorality, lust, envy, coveting, foolishness, and hatred. 

This is how they were born. This is how I was born. This is the battle of the heart – it starts here. Inside of each of them, each of us. For out of natural inclinations of the heart, they are defiled.

“For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Mark 7:21-2

Meanwhile, the evil one lurks outside the gates seeking entry and sending darts and arrows over the barricade. Some fall short, but some make it in leaving singe marks, weakening the surface and ready to leave a scar. What am I to do?

How can I protect them against a foe so well-versed in stealing childhoods and wrecking lives?
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Stand on guard, my Lord, stand tall and strong. The Mighty Fortress that is our God, barricade them in and put a watchman on every corner and at every point of entry.
Tear down interior walls that threaten to divide and conquer the heart from within so that every room and every corner will be under Your control. Take captive any thought that attempts to scale the walls and transform them into obedience to Your will. Establish purity, compassion, resilience, and self-control as cornerstones. 

Restrain fear that will splinter and crack the fortress walls and lurk in the dark shadows. Lord, from terror and pain and death and sorrow and faithlessness and betrayal and suffering, remove the sting so that their hearts would be allowed to feel but not willing to sink too long beneath the surface. Lord, grant them opportunities to grieve and their souls to cry out, but come running to them in their need announcing claim to Your territory with a roar.
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Put Your peace, the kind that far surpasses anything we can imagine, on guard to stand in defense against worry, anxiety, loneliness, comparison, hatred, bitterness, and deceit.

“The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”
Psalm 121:7-

Reveal yourself to them. Let them see Your glory that You would be known to them, an intimate and personal Friend, and, in turn, known to the world. Let them feel the closeness of Your breath as You tuck them into Your Shepherd Arms and pull them to your chest, close enough to hear Your heart beat. Thereby, teach them and grant them an unwavering faith, planted deep and grown in knowledge, able to be reasoned with the mind and felt with the spirit. Stay ever before them, capturing their gaze.
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Above all else, have mercy on them, O God, according to Your steadfast love and Your abounding mercy. Wash them, cleanse them from the guilt with which they entered this world. Allow them to see their depravity and then to experience the glorious redemption of Your freely given sacrifice. Give them the privilege of feeling, pulsing through their veins, the overflow of a heart transfixed and secured by you – the abundant JOY of Your salvation. Forever and ever, Amen.

“But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him. Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me {Paul}, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit.”
2 Timothy 1:12-1

“The heart is the citadel of the soul. If this is neglected, the enemy at the gates will soon be in and take possession. Set a watch, therefore, upon the heart. Let the sentinel be never off duty, nor sleeping at his post. Keep out evil thoughts, and unholy affections, and vile imaginations. Without great vigilance they will elude observation. As soon as an enemy of this kind is detected, he must be seized and made captive, until every thought is brought into subjection to Christ.” – John Angell Jame

When you pray for your children or those you love, what do you pray for? What topics are heaviest on your hearts? What would you like to pray over yourself? I'd love to hear from you!