The other night at bedtime, I was about to pray for my youngest daughter, but I stopped myself.

I realized I was going to pray a fear-based prayer – a prayer rooted in the concern that she would grow up and reject Christ.  I sensed the Lord correcting me, leading me to let go of my fears before praying.  I did, and that led to a prayer for my youngest daughter that had never come to my mind: I prayed that she would grow up and appreciate nature, that she would experience God in the stillness of His creation.  I got the sense that this was exactly what I was supposed to ask God for, and that He would grant my request, because it was His idea.

I moved on to pray for my oldest daughter; and once again, I felt myself gravitating toward a fear-based prayer, but this time, it was my fear that she would grow up and only see herself as valuable based on her looks.  I let the fear go and waited for the Lord to give me a prayer for her; sure enough, He provided a creative, unexpected prayer for her future.

There in the dark of the girls’ bedroom I said “amen” and laid next to my oldest daughter for a moment when she said, “Look at the angels, Daddy.”

“Where?” I asked.

She pointed into the dark.

“Over there – look at them.”

“What do they look like?” I asked.

“They’re so shiny, and they’re bringing messages to me.”

“They are?” I asked.  “What are they saying?”

She said something that made no sense, so I asked again, “What are they saying?”

She said, “They’re bringing messages to me and saying, ‘I love you, I love you’ – look at them, Daddy.  Look how shiny they are.”

I didn’t see anything, but based on the way she was looking at the empty room, I couldn’t help but believe she was seeing what she was describing.

After saying goodnight, I slipped out of her room and pondered what had just happened.  It occurred to me that perhaps there was some connection between my decision to pray fearlessly and my daughter’s ability to see into the heavenly realms.

Think about it: in one little moment, I excused fear from the room, and my daughter started seeing angels who were bringing a message of God’s love for her.  Maybe it’s a coincidence; but I can’t help but wonder if there’s a connection.  And if there is, it makes me wonder what would happen if I made a habit of rejecting fear-based parenting altogether – and if, instead, I made the decision every day to live in the reality that Father God loves my girls more than I ever could.

“Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven” – Matthew 18:10.