The Blessing of God

XVII. Train them, lastly, with continual prayer for a blessing on all you do.

"Without the blessing of the Lord, your best endeavours will do no good. He has the hearts of all men in His hands, and except He touch the hearts of your children by His Spirit, you will weary yourself to no purpose. Water, therefore, the seed you sow on their minds with unceasing prayer. The Lord is far more willing to hear than we to pray; far more ready to give blessings than we to ask them; — but He loves to be entreated for them. And I set this matter of prayer before you, as the top-stone and seal of all you do. I suspect the child of many prayers is seldom cast away. . .

"...Mark how Abraham intercedes for Ishmael...See how Manoah speaks to the angel about Samson...Observe how tenderly Job cared for his children's souls...  Parents, if you love your children, go and do likewise. You cannot name their names before the mercy-seat too often. . ."

[ I hate to leave this wonderful little book and I've put off this last installment, but I do implore you to read the entire writing, but particularly this last section. I would encourage you to find the booklet itself; it's not expensive at all, but I have found a pdf  of the text in its entirety here. You can then print it out and read it all for yourself. Mr. Ryles' concluding words are just so precious. The final quote after this pretty much sums up the heart of the writer, and of mine, with regard to Christ and our children. Heed the words well, and God bless. ~ mr]

"The Lord teach you all how precious Christ is, and what a mighty and complete work He hath done for our salvation. Then, I feel confident you will use every means to bring your children to Jesus, that they may live through Him." ~ J.C. Ryle

 ~ From the Duties of Parents, J. C. Ryle, See the first post in this series.