31 Days of Praying For Our Children - Day 19

I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of G-d, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto G-d, which is your reasonable service.
 (Romans 12: 1-3)

Father, I pray for my children to recognize that their bodies are the temple of Your Holy Spirit and to take care of them.  Help them to make wise choices about the foods they eat and about exercise.  Good health habits pay great benefits, and I pray they will be in health all of their lives.  I pray they will recognize that You made their bodies and that they are used for the work You've called them to do.  

Father, since You've asked us to present our bodies to You as a sacrifice that is holy and acceptable, You want us to abstain from unholy things.  This includes foods and behaviors.  You preserved Your Word over thousands of years for our good.  It includes great details about health and our bodies.   Help my children to accept Your guidelines for healthy foods as a blessing, not a burden.  Help them to accept Your wisdom even thought it may not make sense to them or others.  

Help my children to know what holy means.  Our culture tells us lies about holiness.  It holds up unholiness as the normal thing, and disdains and mocks holiness.  May they honor Your temple by dressing in a becoming way that does not appear immodest or unholy.  

May they not mark or pierce Your temple as the world does.  May they receive Your wisdom that this is a sign of slavery and idol worship.  May they see the pain inflicted and blood shed as a form of self-abuse.  

Father, I pray my children will not present their bodies to any type of sexual perversion.  You left great details about what is perversion in your Word.  I pray they will learn these principles and obey them.  Our world, and even some churches today, tell many lies about what is allowed in the bedroom.  I pray they will read what Your Word says and obey it.  All of Your guidelines and precepts bring life.  

Father, I pray that my children will look to what Your Holy Word says about our bodies.  I pray they will receive what Your Word says about what is holy and what is unholy.  I pray they will receive what Your Word says is acceptable to You and reject the ways of the world that are unholy.