Becoming a better parent through prayer

Listen to Becoming a better parent through prayer

Parents want to do what’s best for their children, but as kids grow up it can become more difficult to guide them through high school, college and beyond.

A group of moms believe the best way to help children, of any age, is through prayer.

“Lord God we ask for your presence, your Holy Spirit, to speak through us that is for your glory and not our glory. Lord we praise you.”

Moms in Prayer is a non-denominational group started by an Oregon woman, Fern Nichols, when her family moved to California almost 30 years ago.

She was worried about whether her sons could resist peer pressure, vulgar language and everything else she associated with big city public schools. She found one other mom who had the same concerns. They started to pray for their kids.

There are now Moms in Prayer groups in every state, including several hundred groups in Washington.

I talked with eight moms from Olympia, Bothell, Edmonds, Marysville, and Issaquah, about why they pray for their kids, and how they know it makes any difference.

They all tell a similar story of thinking the idea was a little “out there” at first, until their prayer requests were answered.

“I was hesitant to go because I wasn’t used to praying openly. So I said I will attend, but I will be very quiet. Wind forward two years and it’s been a complete blessing in my life,” says Pam Martin.

“I’ve seen amazing things happen in my kids’ lives because of prayer.”

Martin says her kids made a better transition, moving from the East Coast to a new school in the Edmonds area, than they would have without prayer. An outsider might think that’s a coincidence. After all, children will do well in almost any school as long as parents are involved and supportive.

What about Julie Herzog’s prayers? When her daughter moved to Laos, in Southeast Asia, she was concerned because there was no cellphone coverage, and no way to keep in touch.

“My Moms in Prayer group said ‘Nothing’s too difficult for God’ and somebody prayed that they would be able to have a phone in the jungle where they were going. Somebody else said, ‘And why not Internet too?’ And we prayed,” says Herzog. “For some reason, the government put a cell tower next to their hut. Through that cell tower we had an Internet connection and a phone. I communicated whenever I wanted. Only God could do that. I still don’t know why he put one next to their hut.

Their prayers are specific and confidential, but Lafon Jantz was willing to share that she’s prayed for son to develop strong business skills. A prayer that was answered after he took a ride on a Segway scooter when their family was on vacation.

“He loved it. He decided to write a letter to the CEO of the Segway corporation. He got invited to the factory, came home with a Segway and has since opened his own business at the age of 11,” says Jantz.

She says that is just one “tangible” result of prayer.

As a group, the mothers pray for each other’s kids and even students they don’t know personally. One Moms in Prayer group decided to pray for every student at Marysville Pilchuck High School.

Chris Degerness says it took a year, but they prayed for every child who was in the yearbook – about 3,000 students mentioned in specific prayers for their safety, grades, and lives at home.

At first, the kids thought the same thing you might be thinking. This is kind of odd.

“When I started, my daughter said ‘Mom, I do not want you to pray for me,'” says Anita Rieck. “Now she’s 17, she had a birthday yesterday, and she texts me prayer requests.”

Not only are their prayers answered, the moms say they’ve noticed changes in their children since they started praying in a group each week.

“It’s not superficial. It’s almost their heart that changes,” says Linda Lung. “My kids started having a more positive outlook of what the future will be.”

“The prayers are reinforcement in my kids lives. It gives them confidence. I can feel it and see it,” says Ricki Jones.

Tara Shaw says the moms change too. The panic she used to feel, trying to control everything in her kids’ lives, went away when she turned to Moms in Prayer.

Do you believe prayers work?

It’s difficult to get a scientific answer to back up the feeling the moms have that prayer works, although an overwhelming 83 percent of Americans agree that God answers prayers.

Scientific attempts to study prayer are challenging. If someone is ill, doctors are reluctant to say “don’t pray for your loved one” so we can study whether or not prayer will make a difference.

In 2004, researchers conducted the largest and most scientifically rigid investigation to date on the effects of prayer. The $2.4 million Harvard study covered 1,802 people who underwent coronary bypass surgery at six different hospitals from Oklahoma City to Boston.

The result? Prayers offered by strangers did not reduce the medical complications of major heart surgery. Not only that, but patients who knew that others were praying for them fared worse than those who did not receive such spiritual support.

Moms aren’t swayed by science or skeptics.

By LINDA THOMAS

Photo, left to right, Seated: Ricki Jones and Tara Shaw. Standing: Linda Lung, Anita Rieck, Chris Degerness, Julie Herzog, Lafon Jantz, and Pam Martin.