Prayers for Back to School Week, Part 5

Pray that your child will respect authority.

The list of authority figures that your child meets on a daily basis is endless—counselors, teachers, principals, coaches, tutors, pastors, friends’ parents, and even police officers and other civil servants. How your kid reacts to and treats authority figures is a vivid indicator of how she’ll respond to the authority of God.

In Romans 13, we’re instructed to honor and obey our leaders, including government leaders, because they have been placed in authority by God. Our submission to them is a reflection of our submission to and trust in God. In verse 7, Paul echoed the teachings of Jesus when he wrote, “Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”

In 1 Peter, Peter underscored the sentiments of Jesus and Paul. He wrote, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right” (1 Peter 2: 13– 14). And in his first letter to Timothy, Paul even called for the church to pray for government leaders: “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (1 Tim. 2: 1– 2).

Unfortunately, these inspired biblical commands seem to have been lost on this culture. How many headlines have you read recently that tell of kids disobeying, mocking, and even physically attacking the people in authority over them? And in our recent history, when we had presidents whom many Christians didn’t like or support, instead of being prayed for, they were openly attacked and even hated by many churchgoing people.

What kind of example does that set for our children?

In Matthew 8, Jesus’s encounter with a Roman centurion offered a profound insight into the importance of submission to authority. Acknowledging Jesus’s authority and his power over sickness, the centurion said, “For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it” (v. 9). Jesus affirmed the man’s faith and humility.

The leadership principle in this passage is clear: only those who are under authority are qualified to be over others. Only those who submit are qualified to be submitted to.

If we want our kids to grow into good and capable leaders— men and women of authority— then they have to learn early on how to submit to and respect those in authority over them. They have to learn that obedience to God and the leaders he’s placed in authority over them isn’t optional. Pray that your child will learn to respect, honor, and submit to her leaders. Pray that she’ll always be respectful of elected officials, even those she disagrees with.

Pray Romans 13: 7 for your child: Holy God, please help my child to be obedient to those in authority over her and to always give them appropriate levels of respect and honor.

A Verse to Pray for Your Child

Matthew 7: 24: Lord Jesus, help my child to hear your words and put them into practice, much like the wise man who builds his house on a secure foundation.

 

From–Pray Big for Your Child: The Power of Praying God’s Promises for Your Child’s Life

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