Helping Your Kids Find God's Plan

God’s plan. God’s will. Everyone wants to know it. A few will even choose to follow it.

As both mothers and mentors, we’re often queried:

• How do I know God’s will?
• How do I find His plan for my life?
• What should I do?

Is it possible to discover God’s plan—for both ourselves and the flock under our care? The Sunday school answer is “yes,” but when it comes to my own children, I’m stumped. I could give you a rundown of their gifts, talents, and abilities. I can list their strengths and weaknesses. Favorite food. Shoe size. Taste in music. But God’s specific plan for each one? He hasn’t told me, although surely I have a handle on it. My mother’s intuition, right? 

Here are three steps that continue to give me a clue. Maybe they’ll help you, too.

1. Specific Prayer

Shape their passions to fit Your plans. I love this prayer. A friend in my prayer group and I walked similar paths as our sons pursued careers in special operations forces. Hers, Air Force. Mine, Navy. As we prayed for our boys, she shared this prayer that she and her husband prayed as their son sought God’s will. I’ve prayed it ever since.

2. Wait

I know; no one likes this part, but give God time and space to work. And keep praying the same prayer, every day, without fail.

3. Watch

I began to see shifts as I prayed. Changes in direction. My sit-behind-a-desk financial son now serves in the Navy’s special ops—while overseeing his stock portfolio.

My extroverted, networking, never-behind-the-desk child is pursuing…accounting1 He’s passed his CPA exams, but says accounting is just a stepping-stone for bigger things.

My fine arts dancer excels in chemistry and calculus. Who knew? She plans to study nursing.

The baby of the family? Only God knows at this point—but I know He has a plan.

As they grow and question God’s will for their lives, I’m always available to give what I hope to be wise counsel. More often, I find myself taking each by the shoulders and turning them toward their Heavenly Father for a chat. After all, He’s the One with the plan. Though I pray alongside them, they must seek Him and His will directly, one-on-one. And there are no age parameters. Don’t hesitate to lead your little ones (or the young mom with little ones) to pray, ask and wait. You will cultivate a heart that heads straight for their Source as well as one that waits for an answer. Again, try this prayer: Shape their passions to fit Your plans.

As mothers, we want what’s best for our children, and as Christians, we want His will. We try to do our best each and every day, but ultimately, God will reveal His plan in His time. Above all, we must remember to wait and watch what God will do, because:

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him (1 Cor. 2:9).

~ By Gayle Veitenheimer