I Prayed have prayed
Father God, thank You that Jesus came to this broken world with real hope. Help us be ministers of peace, reconciliation, and hope to those around us.
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The first institution that God created was the family. IFA asked 3 prayerful ministry leaders how intercessors can be praying for the American family at this time in history.

Joy Chickonoski, is a national leader with Heartland Apostolic Prayer Network and Real Living Ministries, and executive director of UnLeashed Healing Center: “Pray for emotional intelligence. Our families are often conceived in brokenness and grow in brokenness without relief. Convinced that separation is what is needed to heal, divorce fractures the heart of our families again and again. Emotional brokenness leads to illness, infertility, stress, and instability, all of which affect our ability to properly educate the next generation, who do not have the emotional stability for learning. This deepens our financial burdens for the generations to come, and the cycle of stress and lack of coping skills continues.

The brokenness of the home has created a culture of orphans. The more we plead for belonging, with sanctions that control how people need to speak and act, the deeper into emotional isolation we find ourselves. The way out is to teach people that love comes from God and is felt first on the inside through repentance. Repentance and forgiveness heal the wounds, but that is a tough sell in our orphan culture. It will take prayer to breakthrough for cultural orphans to receive accountability as protection rather than control and hatred.”

The brokenness Joy described is evident in foster children. Many Christians are being called to care for foster children, but are they obeying? Kendra Evans is a foster mother and leader of Woven Ministries in Virginia: “Many people will not choose to foster because at some level they do not want their current lifestyle to be inconvenienced. It might be hard, messy & painful. Guess what? It IS hard, messy & painful! Jesus didn’t say meet me in a tidy, organized, effortless, only take up a couple hours of your week, place. He is in the mess, this mess. As mature believing adults we can deal with the hardships. Our hurt, our attachment, our own issues pale in comparison to the magnitude of hurt that these kids face every day.

As you pray for people in the foster care system, please pray for clarity to stay focused on the best interests of the child, for endurance and patience of families and workers, and for support—all need more support. Foster families and bio families need support, social workers and government agencies need support as well as monetary funding to properly oversee and care for the kids in the system. Fostering is not a distant, far-fetched need, fostering is a 24/7 mission field everywhere in America, yet gets very little attention in the church.”

Victoria Jakelsky is the NJ Parental Rights State Coordinator with Parentalrights.org. Working with the NJ child and family services sparked her passion for the rights of parents and children. Here is her call to parents and her prayers for families: “In today’s world children are hearing more lies than truth. They need to know God’s WORD and trust that their parents will defend them if they refuse to compromise their faith. Prayer, time, support, and the Word of God must be evident in your family’s daily lives. Your children need to know that you will support them if they stand apart and speak the truth even when they are the only ones saying it. Please do not be afraid to sacrifice money to give your child what they truly need—time and love.

Father God, please show each parent how to show their children that they love them and are proud of them. Lord, please help the fathers be leaders, prayer warriors, defenders, and disciplinarians in their homes. Heavenly Father, please show the families how to make time to talk. Help both parents find ways to help the children share their fears, their pain, and their problems with their family. Lord God, raise up true churches that will teach your Word without compromise, so families will have a place to grow, be challenged, and fellowship with others who are striving to live holy separate lives (2 Cor 6:16-18).

(Judy McDonough is IFA Communications Director.)

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Rochelle
December 14, 2019

Father God,
I ask that You heal the wounded hearts of children and adults. Help us fully receive the love and compassion of Jesus, who suffered with us. Help us trust You and Your plans for good in our lives.

I pray that You completely destroy every stronghold the enemy set up over wounds that were experienced.
Enable people to forgive and not carry resentment and anger.
Grant children and adults deliverance and freedom to become the person You created each to be.
Let Your light shine through Your people:
through birth families,
through adoptive families, through foster families, and through Your church family, that we would be a kind of first fruits to reveal the way to wholeness and restoration.
We give You all the glory and honor because You are the only One who can accomplish these miracles that we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Cathy
December 14, 2019

Margarita and Susan, my prayers are with you and for these shattered precious hearts. People are so fragile, and children most of all. The Lord commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves. If all Christians truly did this and showed the love of Jesus, so much misery would be erased. This truly is an orphan generation, and the Lord is very close to orphans and widows. We must pray daily for a worldwide revival and for the Church to repent. And pray pray pray.

Mmargarita Perez
December 14, 2019

I need prayer for my friend a good and loving father whose songot mad at him over 5 years ago and became stranged and hehas not heard or seen since. This productive and successful man went into a deep emotional distress and time went by and has had mental breakdowns from anguish, despair and depression, was diagnosed bipolar a.ong other mental illnesses, lost his business and is now disabled. Please help me pray for this man’s family that there is loving and forgiving reconciliationbetween them, deliverance from all demonic activity and they have a testimony and message to tell of the Salvation of the Lord. Pray for me for wisdom and Spirit leading. Thank yoi

Susan Ludwig
December 14, 2019

My grandson goes to public school. I’ve seen the influence it’s on him and others. It breaks my heart. He no longer lives with me.

Vicki
December 14, 2019

Lord God Almighty, we are suffering the judgement from sexual immorality, Your wrath has been placed up our families and we stand in judgment. Lord, please make a way, for the acceptance of sex outside of the marriage bed now seems to be the cultural norm. O Lord, we need Your will with zealousness to speak the truth of Your Word, Your commands not to be adulterers and adulteress, that You mean THOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY,
THOU SHALL NOT COVET YOUR NEIGHBORS SPOUSE
And Lord this teaching begins in the heart, begins at home, begins in the church and begins in the school. We wodnt need sex education, gender identity education and other amoral teaching, if we begin with teaching Your Natural laws. May we repent, each of us that have fallen into this sin, may we turn away from it if it remains active in our lives so that You may heal our families, our homes, that we live lives in Your peace and security and for Your glory. In the name of Christ Jesus I pray for conviction in our hearts and a change in our laws to return to a more natural law according to Your scripture. Amen

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