HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS EUGENE, OREGON Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Cover by Harvest House Publishers, Inc., Eugene, Oregon Cover illustration © Komar art / Shutterstock Back cover author photo © Michael Gomez Photography THE POWER OF A PRAYING is a registered trademark of The Hawkins Children’s LLC. Harvest House Publishers, Inc., is the exclusive licensee of the federally registered trademark THE POWER OF A PRAYING. THE POWER OF A PRAYING® PARENT Copyright © 1995, 2005, 2014 by Stormie Omartian Published by Harvest House Publishers Eugene, Oregon 97402 www.harvesthousepublishers.com ISBN 978-0-7369-5767-0 (pbk.) ISBN 978-0-7369-5771-7 (Deluxe) ISBN 978-0-7369-5768-7 (eBook) The Library of Congress has cataloged the edition as follows: Omartian, Stormie The power of a praying parent / by Stormie Omartian p. cm. 1. Prayer—Christianity. 2. Parents—Prayer-books and devotions—English. 3. Devotional Calendars. I. Title. BV220.053 1995 248.3'2'0240431—dc20 95-8627 CIP All rights reserved. No part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other— without the prior written permission of the publisher. The authorized purchaser has been granted a nontransferable, nonexclusive, and noncommercial right to access and view this electronic publication, and purchaser agrees to do so only in accordance with the terms of use under which it was purchased or transmitted. Participation in or encouragement of piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of author’s and publisher’s rights is strictly prohibited. Contents Acknowledgments Foreword Introduction 1. Becoming a Praying Parent 2. Releasing My Child into God’s Hands 3. Securing Protection from Harm 4. Feeling Loved and Accepted 5. Establishing an Eternal Future 6. Honoring Parents and Resisting Rebellion 7. Maintaining Good Family Relationships 8. Attracting Godly Friends and Role Models 9. Developing a Hunger for the Things of God 10. Being the Person God Created 11. Following Truth, Rejecting Lies 12. Enjoying a Life of Health and Healing 13. Having the Motivation for Proper Body Care 14. Instilling the Desire to Learn 15. Identifying God-Given Gifts and Talents 16. Learning to Speak Life 17. Staying Attracted to Holiness and Purity 18. Praying Through a Child’s Room 19. Enjoying Freedom from Fear 20. Receiving a Sound Mind 21. Inviting the Joy of the Lord 22. Destroying an Inheritance of Family Bondage 23. Avoiding Alcohol, Drugs, and Other Addictions 24. Rejecting Sexual Immorality 25. Finding the Perfect Mate 26. Living Free of Unforgiveness 27. Walking in Repentance 28. Breaking Down Ungodly Strongholds 29. Seeking Wisdom and Discernment 30. Growing in Faith 31. Getting Through the Teenage Years Successfully 32. Praying for Your Adult Children Appendix: Praying Together with Other Parents Other Books by Stormie Omartian About the Publisher Acknowledgments With special thanks: • To my daughter, Amanda, and my son, Christopher, for filling my life with joy and giving me so much to pray about. • To my husband, Michael, for his willingness to spend countless hours with me over the last forty years covering our children in prayer. • To my secretary, Susan Martinez, for being a gifted and valuable helper, encourager, comforter, sister, and friend. • To my Harvest House family: Bob Hawkins Jr., LaRae Weikert, Kim Moore, Terry Glaspey, Betty Fletcher, Mary Cooper, and Carolyn McCready, for their dedication along with me to helping bring hope to concerned parents everywhere. • To my wonderful prayer partners: Susan Martinez, Roz Thompson, Katie Stewart, Patti Brussat, Debra Goldstone, and Jan Williamson, for the many hours of prayer time they invested in this project, in my children, and in my life. • To my pastor for twenty-three years and spiritual father for over forty, Pastor Jack Hayford, for teaching me how to pray. • To Pastors Rice Broocks, James Lowe, Jim Laffoon, John Rohr, and Dale Evrist, for reminding me that my treasure can only be found in the face of God. • To my spiritually adopted son, John Kendrick, for letting me be his mom on earth ever since his first mom and dad went to heaven. • To my housekeeper, Telma Lopez, for thirty years of faithful service and for showing me that a mother’s heart has no language barrier. Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift your hands toward Him for the life of your young children. LAMENTATIONS 2:19 Foreword My mom has been a great mother to me. She encourages me and tries to help me with everything. I am very thankful for her prayers and love. She prays for me daily, and I think that is one of the reasons I make it through school and life. Her prayers have made a difference to me, and because of them, I am alive on this earth. One time her prayers made a big and wonderful change in my life that I never imagined could possibly happen. At my school, I had a classmate who was very mean and I never wanted to go near her because she scared me. When I told my mom, she decided we should pray together for this girl. I thought that was a good idea and so we prayed nearly every day until school was out and through the summer too. The following school year, a miracle happened and that girl changed completely, and she became one of my best friends. It affected my life and it was one of the greatest things that ever happened to me. Mom’s praying worked. It doesn’t always work, but even when our prayers aren’t answered right away, just praying or being prayed for makes me feel better. I am thankful for God and my mother. Thank you, Mom. Amanda Omartian (13 years old) Amanda, Ten Years Later Over the last ten years I have felt my mother’s prayers every day. And I am now enjoying answers to the countless prayers she has prayed for me all my life. Even if I didn’t realize it at the time, I know her prayers were covering me—no matter where I was and what foolish thing I may have been doing. I wish one day to be half the woman she is. She has held this family together with her prayers. She has grabbed hold of God so tightly in prayer every day that the enemy couldn’t have any of us, no matter how hard he tried to gain a foothold in each of our lives. I have been in situations where I knew I was close to danger or disaster, where all I could do was desperately cry to God at that very moment. I can see now what might have happened if my parents had not been praying for me all along, and especially at that time of crisis in my life. Their prayers protected, strengthened, and guided me, even when I didn’t know I needed protection, strength, or guidance. Without them I’m certain that I would not be as whole, happy, or hopeful a person. Prayer has become such an important part of my life that I know it is something I cannot live without. Amanda (23 years old) Amanda, Nine Years Later I am truly blessed to have parents who care for me and follow the leading of the Lord to pray for all areas of my life, even ones I may not pray for myself. When I was about to enter my thirties, I started thinking that maybe marriage wasn’t something I would have, unlike many of my friends who had already married and had children by that time. I had even stopped praying for that, not because I thought prayer was unimportant, but because I didn’t want to feel the disappointment of marriage never happening for me. But not only did it happen unexpectedly at age 31, I married someone who exceeded my expectations for a lifelong companion in so many ways. I know my mother prayed my husband into my life. How great to have a mom who never ceases to care about the things I sometimes don’t even have the strength to address! Another thing she prayed for is that I would have a career I love that fits my personality and abilities and brings me joy. I was such a late bloomer in just about every area of my life that I felt as though that day would never come for me, either. But just like finding my life partner in my thirties, my career also took off at that time and doors opened for me. I am blessed to enjoy what I do, and that is an answer to many prayers. I give thanks to God —and to my mom for being so diligent to fight on my behalf, to pray without ceasing and trust that God would get me to where I needed to go. Amanda (32 years old) Well, I must say that I have truly been blessed with a couple of parents who are very loving and caring, very understanding, and, yes, even occasionally funny. But of the many wonderful qualities my parents possess, the one that I respect most is their persistence in prayer for me and my sister and our everyday lives. If I were to tell you how much their prayers have meant to me and made a difference in my life, I would probably end up writing more than my mother.