Priscilla Shirer and her mother, Lois Evans, join Laurie Crouch on TBN’s Praise. Listen as they discuss the different challenges that come along with raising children in the midst of today’s world; speaking about ways on how to handle parental anxiety and fully trusting God with worry over your kids.

if there was dysfunction because who

doesn’t have dysfunction you know in

some capacity in the in the way they

raise their children or their upbringing

coming up um you just sit back in that

and you go okay well lord you know what

the lapses were in my judgment you know

how i didn’t necessarily get everything

right because nobody does and so god

would you

bring the right people into their life

would you shape their character and this

you know as a young adult would you do

what now i i can’t do hands-on because

i’m not with them every day but lord

i give my kid to you

i think one of the hard parts about

being a a mom of children right now is

that there seems to be this

message that’s purported that if you’re

just doing the motherhood thing that

you’re missing out on something you’re

supposed to be doing some worldwide

ministry as well as mother and your

children and so those that have chosen

to just stay home

in some ways i feel like it’s easy to

feel a bit deficient or a bit like

you’re not actually doing all that god

has called you to do

and i i think that that’s a that’s um

not not necessarily the the right

message that needs to be right well

extended to people i don’t either you

know my dad used to i was raised in a

pastor’s home and

he always talked about the the family

being the church in in miniature you

know and if it didn’t work there you’re

gonna have a hard time at working

anywhere else if it didn’t work in your

home yeah wow you know and that that was

the ministry and i know priscilla you’re

you

we all love to sit and minister to

people and we love to be about the

father’s business but that business is

in the home just as much as it is on the

outside this is our privilege to do to

raise our kids yeah

so we had four of us there were four of

us

and all different activities that we

were in sure but my mom and dad were

very now i realize intentional yes it’s

the only way it happens is if you’re

intentional

intentional about putting us around the

table yeah and that’s where we would

spend time together as a family other

places as well but we were going to have

dinner together yeah it didn’t happen

every night of the week but it was it

was a consistent effort on mom’s part to

actually cook something yeah and us sit

down at the table and eat it together

and that’s where we

talked that’s where we had family

devotions that’s where we found out what

was happening in their day yeah we

learned a lot about them and they

learned a lot about us yeah you know

they actually got involved in

how much ministry we did

in the different seasons in our lives

they would actually tell us you guys are

gone too much yeah but but

around the dinner tables where we heard

what was happening in our kids lives in

their hearts yeah you know like anthony

our son

we learned that we couldn’t just tell

him the day before that we were leaving

for africa

and we thought we were doing that was

wise because he was he’s a sensitive

child and we thought don’t give him this

information two weeks out let’s just do

it the day before but we learned at the

dining room table that anthony needs to

know a year out

so the dining room table was very

important for us yeah what about women

that have maybe passed that time where

they have that influence i mean i’m sure

that’s where prayer

huge is a huge way yeah

and still and i i say still take the

opportunity if even it’s past that stage

yeah i say still take the opportunity

every time god gives you a chance to

speak into your life the lives of your

children even even though they’re adults

you know i still call my kids and if

it’s a long

um

inspiration god’s given me to tell my

kids i tell them hang up

and don’t when i call back

just when you have time listen to what

the lord

inspired me to share with you so i think

there’s always opportunity to still

speak

into the lives of our children or those

that we have care of family friends

i mentioned single parents if they allow

you to speak into the children’s lives

you know proverbs 18 21 says we need to

speak good

and today kids need to hear

good because there’s so much evil around

yeah

i think go ahead i was just going to say

i think also

to know that the mercy and the grace of

god covers our faults and our frailties

and our weaknesses so if there was

dysfunction because who doesn’t have

dysfunction you know in some capacity

and the way they raise their children or

their upbringing coming up

you just sit back in that and you go

okay well lord you know what the lapses

were in my judgment you know how i

didn’t necessarily get everything right

because nobody does and so god would you

bring the right people into their life

would you shape their character and this

you know as a young adult would you do

what now i can’t do hands-on because i’m

not with them every day but lord

i give my kid to you

and just know that his mercy

that’s what it does his mercy doesn’t

give us what we do deserve and his grace

gives us what we don’t deserve

and um and so that’s the goodness of god

yeah and you know i love what you’re

talking about though about setting the

boundaries yeah because in those

boundaries come safety safety

and care because

children left on their own i mean the

bible tells us all about it children

left to themselves bring shame

you know but setting those boundaries i

think that’s so important because i do

um in a world that is so um

you know the internet phones all of that

boy it’s easy to just let the kids be

with other kids go to their houses and

and they’re just kind of free to to do

what they want to do and i think as

parents

we do need to gather our children yeah

yeah and and

bring them

in-house a little more than what they

are yeah

i kept my kids with me i i have

you know they went to school

through the third and the sixth grade

but but i kept them with me if i

back back at that time we had our own

company and i was able to travel with my

husband and i didn’t go without my kids

we just didn’t

either you know we just took them and i

know that’s not a

it’s not yeah everybody’s reality

exactly but um i think that’s so

important of course yeah just being

close by being close by yeah priscilla

we’ve got a few more minutes in this

beautiful show i have loved this every

minute of this conversation i love when

you speak about the family i love the

blessing that you pray over your boys

for the last little while why don’t you

look into that camera and just minister

to the people and and encourage them

till we go out okay very much i’d love

to do that i do want to encourage you to

not strive for perfection in your

parenting just just consistency just

pick what it is that you want to do that

you want to be faithful about and

consistent about with your children

whether it’s

baking bread you know you decide i want

to bake bread so my kids can remember

the smell of bread bacon you don’t have

to be perfect at it just decide if

that’s what you want to do just do it if

it’s that you want to have a meal around

a table

pick the two nights a week this week you

can get it done and do it if it’s that

you want to have devotions do it just

start and you don’t have to be perfect

but your kids will remember whatever it

is that you’re doing consistently and

faithfully

and that’s what we had growing up i will

i will say that it wasn’t perfection it

was

consistent intentional parents and i’m

so grateful for that now your kids will

be too if you’re on the other side of

raising your children and you feel maybe

a little discouraged because you’re

looking back and you’re thinking man

there are so many things i would have

done differently well welcome to the

club there are so many things that all

of us as parents look back and would

have done differently but it’s okay

because the holy spirit’s got you

covered there’s grace and mercy that is

sufficient for all of our weaknesses and

our shortcomings and our frailty and i’m

so grateful for that from my own life

and i’m grateful for that for yours as

well so i just want to

tell you that one of the things that i

do consistently with my boys is pretty

much every single day as much as i can i

square them up and i do

say some words over them it’s almost

like a little prayer they are so annoyed

that i say it to them but i say it to

them anyway and i encourage you to write

something down for your kids your

daughter or your son and speak it over

them i say to my sons that you are a man

of integrity character and honesty and

you will love the lord your god with all

your heart with all your soul and with

all your strength today you’ll be a

blessing to your teachers and you will

be a blessing to your friends you will

put on the full armor of god so that you

can stand firm against the schemes of

the enemy you are the head you are not

the tail you are above you are not

beneath you are a leader you are not a

follower and today is going to be one of

the best days of your entire life and i

know that they get annoyed by it but you

know the fact that they can quote some

of it back to me what that says to me is

that it’s getting into their system and

that they’re going to believe about them

whatever it is i say about them and so i

want to speak to you from god’s word and

i want you to believe what god god’s

word says about you too

and god’s word says that you have been

equipped by the spirit of god that every

spiritual blessing that you need

ephesians 1 says pertaining to not just

godliness but pertaining to your life

every spiritual blessing you need he has

already given you you have been lavished

upon with the grace and the goodness of

god the equipping of god to be the

mother or the grandmother that he has

called you to be you walk in victory not

in defeat there is an enemy yes but he

is already underneath your feet he may

form a weapon against you but that

weapon has no possibility of prospering

and he already knows that before he even

gets started you have not been given a

spirit of fear but of power and of love

and of a sound mind and you will be a

woman a mother a grandmother a single

mother who makes a mark on a generations

to come and god’s blessing will flow not

just to you but through you one

generation to the next and the next and

i’m praying the blessing over you that

i’ve gotten to see come to fruition in

my own parents life i’m praying that you

will not just see the blessing extent of

your children but that you’ll live long

enough your eyes will be open long

enough to see your grandchildren and

your great-grandchildren one generation

after the the other experiencing the

blessing of god let me pray for you lord

jesus i thank you for my sister and my

brother who might be sitting on the

other side of the screen i pray right

now in jesus name that if there’s any

discouragement on them that you would

lift it off of them father you would

replace it with encouragement father you

would infuse them with your courage to

do what it is that you’ve called them to

be to do to be who you’ve called them to

be i pray lord that you would blanket

their life in a peace that passes all

understanding yes lord i pray for

supernatural discernment for the mother

who is trying to deal with a toddler

lord a teenager lord a young adult for

the grandmother that’s trying to figure

out her place in it all lord i pray for

supernatural discernment and wisdom

father as they train up their children

in the way that they should go would you

give them your eyes to see that child

even that problem child lord through

your lens so that they can steward and

guide in a way that will bring you

utmost honor father and i pray in the

meanwhile lord that you would help them

to know that every deficiency they have

has already been covered by your grace

your blood poured out on calvary it’s

already finished it’s done so lord not

to look at their weaknesses but to

remember that in our weaknesses your

strength is made perfect and so we give

our families to you our children to you

both now and forevermore in jesus name

amen amen oh amen at tbn our mission is

to use every available means to reach as

many individuals and families as

possible with the life-changing gospel

of jesus christ thank you for helping

make

the gospel of grace go around the world

without you we couldn’t do it god bless

you