FAST FRIDAY FOR FIRSTBORNS FRIDAY 8TH APRIL 2022 THEME: NAVIGATING NEW SEASONS TEXT: ECCLESIASTES 3:1 “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”
Blessings beloved parent-intercessors. Welcome to another time of prayers and sacrifice for our firstborns and by extension our other children.
If we read through the entire chapter of our key text, we will see that the book of Ecclesiastes gives us many examples of seasons we’ll face in life: times of birth, death, weeping and joy amidst many others. The Bible shows us that experiencing good and bad times in our lives is normal and to be expected. Though it is easy to hold onto our hope in happy situations, we shouldn’t let changing circumstances cause our faith to falter. Jesus promised us in John 16: 33 KJV “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
One thing is sure, Abba is with us in every season of our lives. When we or our children face the unknown, we can trust that He is in control and working out every situation for our good and we can rest in the assurance of this word in Psalm 1:3 “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”
AS WE BRING EVERY NEW SEASON OUR CHILDREN WILL BE NAVIGATING HENCEFORTH BEFORE GOD THEIR FATHER, LET US MEDITATE ON AND PRAY WITH THE PROVIDED SCRIPTURES BELOW:
A. 2 Corinthians 12:9 “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of CHRIST may rest upon me.”
Psalm 103:14 “The LORD doesn’t mind that we are needy. He knows that we are made of dust.”
Life is a cycle and each day in it is new. No new season is new to GOD because He has lived it already being the Alpha and Omega, hence we can rest because He has His seeds in our care covered. When we are real and true to the Holy Spirit, He is ever ready to come up under us to lift us up. He alone is able to give to our children the power they need to handle everything new that they will face.
PRAY: Father GOD, in JESUS’ name, I ask on behalf of my children, let not the new season be too much or too overwhelming for them to handle on their own. Strengthen their weaknesses, let Your grace be sufficient for them on this journey of life. Cover them with Your grace Father, and make Your strength perfect in their every weakness as they navigate every new season they come into.
B. James 1:5-8 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of GOD, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the LORD; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
Proverbs 2:7 “He hides away sound and godly Wisdom and stores it for the righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with Him); He is a shield to those who walk uprightly and in integrity,”
In navigating our new season of life, wisdom is a principal and key ingredient that our firstborns and by extension our other children need in getting things in proper order. Therefore when Father GOD gives His wisdom–which He will do when we ask of Him, (either for ourselves or for our children and indeed for anyone) according to James 1:5 — then we are assured that we’ll (and especially our children in this case) be helped by the Spirit to make good decisions that will line up with GOD’s will for our lives.
PRAY: Dear Heavenly Father, grant our firstborns and by extension our other children the wisdom they need to navigate life and particularly the new season(s) they come into. Please fill them with Your wisdom right now and always. Thank You Father for this precious gift. In JESUS’ name we receive, Amen.
C. Psalm 16:11 “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
On the journey of life, our children will always come into the juncture of decision as they need to step into the new and sometimes, it will not be a clear-cut, easy-to-make decision. Some of these decisions could have lifelong consequences. Our children need the right perspective per time so they can make right decisions for the new season/project, etc before them.
PRAY: LORD, show my children the path of life per time. If one decision would mislead and lead to taking a wrong turn while another will bless them, leading to goodness, help and equip them to choose to go down the path that will bring abundant life.
PRAY: Father GOD, please show my children the path of life during every new season before them that they are to step into. Help them to step only where You want them to step. Let every decision they make in their new season be only what You would have them do. Fill them with Your abundant life as a result of this new season in JESUS’ name I pray Amen.
D. Isaiah 43:18-19 “‘Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.'”
GOD always has a plan to grow and prosper us, as individuals and as a people (See Jeremiah 29:11), but His plans can be thwarted if we don’t obey His will. Therefore, as our navigate every new season, let us pray that that they will stay completely on board with GOD’s agenda–and that His plans will be fully carried out in and through them!
PRAY: Father GOD, I ask that You would help my children to obey You in every area–in their new season and always! Help them to be so submitted to Your will that EVERY new thing You want to do in and through my children gets carried out. Help my children to forget past failures and difficulties and leave them behind and press forward to those new things which are ahead. Thank You Father. In JESUS’ name I pray Amen.
E. Psalm 40:6 “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. Then I said, ‘Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my GOD, and Your law is within my heart.'”
God doesn’t want us to offer burnt sacrifices like the Israelites did in the Old Testament. Instead, He wants us to obey Him! And in order to do that, our children need ears to hear His will for us.
PRAY: Father GOD, please give my firstborn and by extension my other children ears to hear You. Help them distinguish Your still, small voice from all others. Help them also to eliminate noise and distractions from their lives that would keep them from hearing You clearly, so that they can obey all Your wishes. Thank You Father. In JESUS’ name I pray Amen.
F. John 5:19: “Then JESUS answered and said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.'”
JESUS only did what He saw the Father do. If we want our children to be like JESUS, following His footsteps when it comes to stepping into the new, then our children must only do what the Father does too! And if they’re going to see what He is doing, they need clear spiritual vision to navigate their new season.
PRAY: Father GOD, in JESUS’ name, please give my firstborn and by extension my other children eyes to see You. Help them to see what You’re doing and do only that, so they can emulate You and JESUS in every area of their lives. Please help them also to understand how You’re working and see things from Your perspective so they don’t get discouraged. Thank You Father. In JESUS’ name I pray Amen.
G. Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by CHRIST JESUS to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
GOD intends for every new season to bless us. Even when things look and feel really, really bad … and even if your children’s transition isn’t something GOD would have wanted for them, but which they have to face anyway (e.g. a failure of some sort or finding your children in wrong quarters being influencednegatively) … He has still promised to work all things together for our good (Romans 8:28). Halleluyah!
So if He’s working on our behalf and on behalf of our children, shouldn’t we ask Him to pile it on and bless our children BIG? Since we know that GOD is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we could ask or think, shouldn’t we ask Him to do so?
PRAY: Father GOD, You have all power in Heaven and earth. You are able to do way more than I could ever ask, think, or dream for my children. So LORD, in JESUS’ name, please pour out Your grace, favor, help, and blessings on my firstborn and by extension my other children more than I could possibly imagine. Thank You Father. In JESUS’ name I pray and receive, Amen.
H. Isaiah 43:16 “Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea and a path through the mighty waters…”
GOD is in the habit of opening up doors that no human could ever open. He laughs at obstacles! He takes joy in demolishing them for the sakes of His sanctified ones particularly because it is a covenant act for Him!
He parted both the Red Sea and the Jordan River so the Israelites could cross on dry ground.
He raised JESUS from the dead, after the Pharisees were so sure they had won!
He sent an angel to free Peter from prison when His people prayed (Acts 12)!
And beloved, Father GOD can help our children the same way and even in much more ways than these. No matter how impossible our chilidren’s situation appears …and no matter what their lives and destiny needs are …
He can make a way in the sea, and a path through the mighty waters for them after all He is their Father and He has asked that these ones be released, separated and sanctified specially to Him.
PRAY: Father GOD, in JESUS’ name, send help every time my children need it especially when they don’t see a way forward. I know You can make a way. Please open doors for my children that only You could open. Provide solutions to everything they are facing and will face in the future. Nothing is impossible with You, so I thank You in advance for Your help. In JESUS’ name I pray and receive, Amen.
I. Joshua 1:7 “Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.”
GOD is not intimidated by any uncharted territory. He’s already been there, and He knows exactly how He wants your children and mine to proceed in the face of new things, procedures and accomplishments! Somewhere ahead of our children is a land flowing with milk and honey–the Promised Land of GOD’s best for their lives!
However, moving into that Promised Land is going to take courage on our children’s part as we will not always be there as parents but their Father GOD is an ever-present Father and help in their time of need and new season. Our children will have to be bold and strong in Him in order to cross over.
PRAY: Heavenly Father, please help my firstborn and by extension my other children to be strong and very courageous for their new season. Just as You helped Joshua to navigate His new season with good transition results, give my children the boldness to obey everything You ask of them to do. Help them to hear Your voice behind them at each juncture of decision, saying “This is the way, walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21), and help them never to take a turn to the right or to the left except at Your command. Thank You Father for prospering them as they obey You. In JESUS’ name, Amen.
J. John 12:27-28: “‘Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.'”
When JESUS faced the toughest decision of His life, He asked Father GOD to glorify His own name. That request must have pleased the Father, for He answered right away–with an audible voice–and said He would do so!
Whether our children are facing a good season or a challenging one, we can pray for them the same way JESUS did. If we ask, the LORD will glorify Himself in their lives and situation. He will work things out so that JESUS will be lifted up through them and their situations. A lot of people have led lives and taken on causes and stepped into a new phase that emanated from a place of pain and are now bringing glory to the name of the LORD through their experiences. Irrespective of what goes on with our children, GOD can and must be glorified!
PRAY: Dear Father GOD, You see what my children are going through right now. My faith and hope are in You. I know I can trust You to carry my children through and cause them to emerge as overcomers who bring glory to Your name.
Father, I ask that You would glorify Your name through the occurrences of my children’s lives. Father, make Your name famous through the situations of their lives, and demonstrate to the world how good You are. LORD JESUS be lifted up over my children’s lives, Thank You Father for answered prayers. In JESUS’ name Amen.
To our duty posts people. May our firstborns and by extension all our other children be awakened to their new seasons and opportunities in GOD per time and may they have GOD-glorifying testimonies in their new seasons in the name of JESUS CHRIST Amen.
See you at the fast breaking meeting by 6pm WAT. Remember your direct log in link to the Zoom Meeting Room is bit.ly/FastFridayFirstbornPrayers.
I love and honour you! Blessings.
