March 18 -Proverbs 19:18

Proverbs 19:18 says, "Chasten your son while there is hope, And do not set your heart on his destruction."

As parents we need to discipline our children to teach them what is right and what is wrong. The longer we let something go on, the harder it is to chasten our children. What I want to point out today is the second part of the verse: "And do not set your heart on his destruction." Again this goes back to the words we speak over our children. How often do you hear parents say, "there is no hope for him, he's ruined his life" or "I might as well give up on him, he is headed for destruction". We set our hearts on destruction for someone when we expect the worse for them, when we speak negative things over them and when we give up on them. We can't do that to people, especially our children. Again, we must speak life over our children, we must speak the Word of God over them (no matter what the circumstances are right now). If your child is going down a destructive path, then here is a good scripture to pray: Jeremiah 31:16-17. There a different scriptures we can pray for every circumstances. We need to start proclaiming that our children walk in the ways of God, that they walk in integrity, that they are on fire for the Lord. This may not be the case right now, but if we continue to pray for them and speak positive things over them and speak the Word over them and BELIEVE and TRUST the Lord, then it will happen in His time.

I will leave you with this scripture, Isaiah 55:12 "So shall My Word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing which it is sent." Hallejuah, speak that Word and it will accomplish that which it is sent to do, it will not return void, it WILL prosper!