Bring Your Children to Jesus Every Day

Parenting is a path paved with Band-Aids, bedtime stories, and carpool lanes. From sunscreen to homework help, we live in problem-solving mode. And when we encounter a need we can’t meet ourselves, we turn to experts or search engines. But beneath our to-do lists lies a deeper need one that only God can fill.

Mark 9 introduces us to a desperate father a man who carried the weight of his son’s suffering. His boy had been tormented for years by a spirit that robbed him of his voice and threw him into danger. When Jesus arrived, the father stepped forward, not with polished faith but with the rawness of reality: “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).

That cry echoes the heart of every parent who has knelt at the edge of their child’s bed wondering if they’re doing enough, praying enough, believing enough. Parenting exposes our limits. It reveals how much we long for control and how little we actually have.

Faith Grows in the Letting Go

Mothering has taken me to the edge of certainty. Even raising four healthy boys with ordinary struggles, I’ve regularly found myself teetering between hope and fear. We trust Jesus to redeem and transform our children, but we often default to self-reliance. We read books, listen to podcasts, swap ideas with friends and sometimes we bring Jesus in last.

But Mark 9 teaches us that Jesus invites us to bring our children to Him not just when we’re out of options, but every day. His response to the father’s plea wasn’t rebuke it was deliverance. The boy was healed. The father’s desperate faith was honored. And we, too, are invited to walk that path of trust, daily placing our parenting efforts into divine hands.

So what does it look like to grow, learn, and let go?

1. Emphasize Relationship Over Rules

We often want children who obey, who get along, who don’t embarrass us in the grocery store. But Scripture teaches that true transformation flows from the heart: “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23). Rule-following is not the goal relationship with God is.

This means modeling prayer, worship, service, and Scripture reading not as chores but as parts of a living relationship with a personal God. When children see that following Jesus matters more to us than appearances or approval, they learn that Christianity isn’t a behavior program it’s a relationship worth everything.

2. Be an Ambassador, Not the Hero

Paul Tripp reminds us that parenting is “ambassadorial work from beginning to end.” We don’t parent to produce trophy kids; we parent as stewards of God’s grace, connecting our children to Christ. God’s goal is not mere happiness, but holiness and hope in Him.

Kristen Welch challenges the modern obsession with “happy children,” reminding us that true satisfaction is found in God, not circumstances. Life’s disappointments a missed opportunity, a broken friendship, a tough school year become moments to point our children to Jesus as their Provider and Sustainer.

We are not providence in their lives. We are not God. When we rush in to fix every problem or prevent every fall, we risk hindering the Spirit’s work in shaping their hearts. Parenting requires trust trust that God’s plan for our children is better than ours.

3. Live a Deuteronomy 6 Life

Discipleship isn’t confined to bedtime prayers or Sunday school. It is woven into the fabric of our days: “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit... when you walk... when you lie down, and when you rise” (Deuteronomy 6:7).

Family devotions around the table matter. So do car conversations, apologies after arguments, and the way we respond to disappointment. Faith formation happens in the ordinary. It’s in the way we wait in traffic, the way we serve neighbors, and the way we celebrate God’s faithfulness in small moments.

Tish Harrison Warren calls this living the Liturgy of the Ordinary recognizing God’s presence in our daily routines. We teach our children that faith is not compartmentalized. It is life.

4. Pray as a First Response, Not a Last Resort

In Mark 9, Jesus told His disciples that the demon could only be cast out “by prayer” (Mark 9:29). The implication? They had tried in their own strength and failed. We are just as prone to this mistake. We plan, worry, strategize and pray only when everything else fails.

But what if prayer was our first move? What if, instead of panicking or overanalyzing, we brought our children to Jesus again and again in prayer? When we lie awake worrying about their future, when we’re discouraged by their choices, when we feel inadequate prayer is the place where our parenting meets God’s power.

Barna research shows that while 73% of Christian parents say raising children who love Jesus is a top priority, only 29% say they feel equipped to do it. That gap can only be closed through grace. Prayer is how we partner with the One who knows and loves our children better than we ever could.

Letting Go Into God’s Hands

Letting go isn’t abandoning our children it’s entrusting them to the only One who can truly save and shape them. Philippians 1:6 assures us that “he who began a good work in you and your children will bring it to completion.” Our confidence rests not in our perfection, but in His promises.

God is not asking us to be flawless parents. He is calling us to be faithful ones. The gap between what we desire for our children and what we can achieve is filled by grace. And in every moment of fear or failure, He invites us back to that humble prayer: “I believe; help my unbelief.”

So grow. Learn. Let go. And bring your children to Jesus every day, every struggle, every joy.

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