6. Listen to them. Prophetic children–even the most strong-willed ones–tend to be sensitive in nature. They may be suffering demonic attacks in the night and need your help.
One of my prayer partners, Sandy Grady, told me that when she was a child, spirits would come around her bed at night to torment her. Because her family was not Christian, they didn’t know how to help her.
When our kids were young, Daniel would tell us that his stuffed animals were moving around in the night. Mary would say that things with long claws were trying to grab her in the night from under her bed. Mike and I listened and took these concerns seriously.
7. Don’t let them watch horror movies. Scary films or TV shows just open the door to the spirit of fear.
8. Use wisdom in your disciplining. If your prophetic children are frequently stubborn or disrespectful, of course, you have to discipline them. Just be careful not to discipline them too much.
Overdoing it can break their spirits and wound them.
We used to have a spoon in every room because Mary talked back so much. But we tried not to over-discipline her.
Sometimes other parents in our church would tell us we needed to discipline her more. Most of the time, these were parents of passive, compliant children who were no comparison to Mary. We had to ask God for help in finding a level of discipline that would do the job without breaking Mary’s spirit.
GOD IS FAITHFUL Today, as young adults, Mary and Daniel are operating in their God-given prophetic gifts. Now I can look back and thank God for giving me two prophetic kids. And I can thank Him for helping me through the challenges of raising them to be good stewards of the gifts He has given them.
I have learned from experience: God is faithful. He is the giver of life and the giver of all good gifts. That includes the prophetic gift, which has a significant place in the ministry of the church.
He will be faithful to give you the wisdom you need to raise your prophetic child to be a blessing–to you and to the body of Christ.
Cindy Jacobs is founder and president of Generals of Intercession, an international intercessory prayer ministry based in Texas.