"Hands On" Parenting

Matt 19:13-15
13 Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven." 15 And He laid His hands on them and departed from there.

Mark 10:16
16 And He took them up in His arms, put His hands on them, and blessed them.

It is a good thing obviously to pray for our children; to clothe them with our prayers for protection and godliness; that the Lord would “keep” them throughout the day, and bless them with pleasant happenings. In fact, woe to us if don’t pray for them, as it is a dangerous world out there. But we have a daily opportunity to take that to another level, and give our children a precious treasure that they may be missing.

In this passage, parents brought their children to Jesus greatly desiring Him to lay His hands on them and bless them. And the Lord was delighted to do so, even in the face of His disciples’ misguided protests. The hope was that through the laying on if His hands with prayer, that a tangible blessing would be imparted to them from God. And there is much Scriptural support for this very thing.

In Genesis, Israel blessed his grandchildren Ephraim and Manasseh by laying his hands upon their heads. Jesus healed the sick by the laying on of His hands (Luke 4:40) and exhorted His followers to do the same (Mark 16:18). In the Book of Acts the fullness of the Holy Spirit was given to people through the laying on of hands (Acts 19:6)

What a great opportunity we have each day to give a blessing to our children before they go out into the world, by taking the time to lay hands upon them and asking God to impart His wisdom and protection upon them, to fill them with His Spirit, and to keep them healthy (or even make them healthy)! Allow His Spirit to guide your words as you pray, for the Lord may want to impart specific blessings to them or prophetic exhortations. He may give you a word of wisdom or knowledge about them to provide guidance for their day.

We may not always be able to pray as we would like when our children demand our attention, but perhaps we can take advantage of the opportunity by giving them the attention of our prayers.