Unlocking the Potential of Scripture: Praying for Our Children w/ Sharon Jaynes

Today we dive into the powerful practice of praying for our children.  As parents, we carry the weighty responsibility of shaping not just their lives but their eternal souls. The journey from bringing them home to watching them leave the nest is a remarkable yet challenging task. Today, our guest, Sharon Jaynes, author of "Praying for Your Child from Head to Toe," is our guide to effective Scripture-based prayers. Let's explore how we can purposefully pray for every aspect of our children's lives, seeking guidance in this essential aspect of parenting.

• The Power of Purposeful Prayer
• Recognizing Modern Parenting Challenges
• The Head to Toe Prayer Method
• Guiding Decisions and Choices
• Nurturing the Heart and Spiritual Protection
• Future Spouse, Influential Relationships, and Sexuality

As we journey through the "Head to Toe" prayer method, we find a structured yet heartfelt way to cover our children in prayer. Sharon Jaynes reminds us that, just as her life was changed through the prayers of a caring individual, our prayers for our children extend beyond our family. Let's embrace this powerful practice, remembering that praying with Scripture unleashes dynamite power in the spiritual realm, ultimately shaping the physical and eternal destinies of our beloved children.
Tune in and join us on this transformative prayer journey for our children's spiritual well-being.

Book: Praying for Your Child from Head to Toe
Website: sharonjaynes.com
Go-To Bible: NIV 1985 Edition
Favorite App/Website: Bible Hub

Chapters

• 2:41 Impact previous Sharon Jaynes book had on Ellen
• 4:34 Sharon's motivation to want to write book about praying for kids
• 7:04 Top concerns women have for their children
• 13:12 Praying from head to toe
• 30:28 Praying to release control and let God work
• 34:51 How to have focus while praying
• 35:51 Don't feel guilty for praying scripted prayers
• 38:20 Encouragement for discouraged parents
• 42:20 Sharon's favorite Bible study tools

Transcript

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

I'm Mentor Mama, and today we are going to be talking about how to harness the power of Scripture in praying for our children from the moment you bring them home to the moment they leave the nest and beyond. You know, parents, we have been entrusted by God with this incredible task of molding not only a child, but their souls that will last an eternity. And all of this within a relatively short span of time. And oftentimes this can seem like an incredible weight to carry. And so especially when it comes to prayer, because sometimes we don't even know what to pray or how to pray effectively. Well, our guest today, Sharon Jaynes, author of many books, including her recent Praying for Your Child from Head to Toe a 30-day Guide to Powerful and Effective Scripture-Based Prayers is here to offer guidance to anyone in the family or circle of friends on how to pray purposefully and effectively covering every aspect of a growing child's life. For 10 years, Sharon served as vice president of the Proverbs 31 Ministries and co-host for their daily radio feature.  

She is the author of 25 books with Harvest House, Moody Publishers, Baker Books, Multnomah Publishers, and Thomas Nelson. She has also written numerous magazine articles and devotions for publications such as Focus on the Family, Extraordinary Women, Decision, Crosswalk.com, and In Touch. Sharon is a frequent guest on radio and television programs such as Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Demoss Wolegmuth, Family Life Today, and Focus on the Family. Sharon currently writes for Proverbs 31 Ministries, encouragement for today devotions, and teaches at their She Speaks conference. Please welcome Sharon.  

Sharon Jaynes  

Hey, so good to be here.  

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

Sharon, I'm so excited to have you here today. And I want to let you know the impact that you had on me as a younger mom. It was your book titled, Being a Great Mom Raising Great Kids. And that book just had such a huge, huge impact on me. And I have to tell you that in that book, there was two specific subjects that you had. One was sure I know my kid, and it was talking about, do you really know your kid? And you had all these great questions to ask your kids. I literally took that page and I put it in the inside of the cabinet door in my kitchen so that we would have snack time. And my kids are now in their mid-20s and it's still there in the cabinet. 

Sharon Jaynes  

That's precious. That's precious.  

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

And then there was another article that I have in there that was, or not article, it was another page of the book that was listed with your whole being and just great questions to ask kids to really get them thinking and you to get to know them better because it's amazing how much we think we know that we don't know.  

Sharon Jaynes  

Right, and we're trying to get away from that question of how was your day at school in here, the answer, fine. So remember that's what got me thinking about how to write good questions to not ask that question because I knew the answer that I would get. So it wasn't a problem with my questions, it was a problem. I mean it wasn't a problem with his answers, it was a problem with my questions. So I had to come up with some better questions. 

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

Yes! So, yeah. So, thank you for all you have done in the past for moms and helping them raise great kids. Well, so now you're on the topic of praying for your child. What drew you to really want to write about this particular aspect? 

Sharon Jaynes  

Well, my child is a grown man now, married man, so you might think, why'd you write this book now? But about 10 years ago, I wrote a book called Praying for Your Husband from Head to Toe. And it was the same pattern of just praying Scripture from the mind all the way to the feet to cover your husband in scriptural prayer. And I got so many emails from people that I really want to do this for my children. And somewhere I'm actually using the husband book to pray their children and I'm like okay we could do that differently. So that's what really encouraged me to write this. Plus I'm at the stage of life now where my friends are having grandchildren and so I'm around little children again. I don't have grandchildren yet but I do have precious little nieces and nephews that I'm using this for myself to pray and cover these little ones in prayer. So it's just that desire to, like you said in the very beginning, sometimes we don't know what to pray for our children. And I'm not talking about just a little children. I'm talking about all the way through to an empty nest until they get in and in college. So just not knowing what to pray. We know that when we pray the word of God, we are praying the will of God. And when we pray the word of God, I think that takes out some of our, I hate to say selfish motivations and our prayers, but you know what? That's really what it is because sometimes when we're praying, we're thinking of how we think that child should develop to become the men and women we think they should be. So it's really relinquishing control from praying God's word that he will make them into the men and women that he wants them to be. So that was kind of the impetus, I guess, to write this book for mamas and grandmamas and aunties and everyone praying for children in their lives. 

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

Hmm, yes. Oh, I love that because the power of prayer is just, I think so underrated in a lot of ways, I think, from people. And this really gives us, you know, direct access, right, to our creator who can make a difference. So I'm so encouraged that you took the time to do this. You know, as parents have evolved over time. And as you have talked with women, what are the top concerns today that women have for their children? 

Sharon Jaynes  

Well, when I talk to mamas today, they're struggling with things that I never even had to think about when I was raising my son. For example, school shootings. I mean, that was not a thing. I mean, if we had a fire drill, that was exciting. When we were in school, we got to walk out. But now there's school shootings and that is not exciting. It is terrifying. And we see moms that are afraid or whoever's caring for the child, the grandmother, the aunt, afraid to send their children to school and not only that but the children are afraid to go to school sometimes and I think about the statistics that in 2022 shootings since 2018 there were 167 school shootings and you know I think Ellen when do we even start counting them but you know now that's a statistic.  

And I remember when I was raising my child, I mean, it was always been peer pressure. I had peer pressure. You had peer pressure. I mean, there was peer pressure with Cain and Abel. I mean, as soon as there were two siblings, there was peer pressure and comparison. But now it is so much different because of social media and because of the internet. So where we had peer pressure among ourselves and our friends in school, in our community, now they're comparing themselves with people around the world, and they're comparing their insides with someone else's outsides. And the peer pressure today is just so heavy on those children. And it's causing so much depression. And suicide is the number two cause of death of adolescents and young teens. And I think so much of that is so much of that depression that is coming on our children as because of social media and what they're seeing on the internet. I think parents have always worried about what their children are learning in school, what they're learning on the school bus. But listen, this is in the privacy of their own rooms as they turn on their phone, as they turn on their laptops or computers in their own room. There is so much that they're being exposed to today that the parents just seem like they feel like they're out of, don't have control over it. And a lot of times they really don't.  

The thing is, you know, Ellen, we can't be everywhere as parents, but God can. So that's one of the things we are praying for our children as we go down. And I'm sure we'll go down and mention the thoughts all the way down to the path that they take, but we are praying for protection for our children from all that they're exposed to. But here's what we always need to remember, Ellen, even though we see all this, this evil actually that's going on in the world today that is affecting our children. 

The Bible says that we do not face a war of flesh and blood, but our battle is against spiritual forces, against principalities, against rulers, against the powers of darkness, against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. So if we are really, when we get right down to it, if we're really fighting a spiritual battle, then we need to fight it with spiritual weapons, right? We need to fight it with spiritual weapons. 

And I love what Paul wrote in 2nd Corinthians 10, three through four says, though we live in the world, we do not wait for as the world does. The weapons that we fight with are not weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. And I love that phrase, demolish strongholds. The power to demolish strongholds, and that word power there is the Greek word dunimos, which is where we get the word dynamite in English. And so when you think about dynamite, it's you have nitrogen and you have glycerin and you bring them together and boom, you've got dynamite. When we have the word of God and we have prayer and bring those together, boom, we've got dynamite power. And that's what we have as parents, to be praying the word of God, praying scripture over our children and defeating that enemy in the spiritual realm, which we know then affects the physical. So that's why we're praying Scripture and that's what we need to pray over these children. 

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

Yes, yes, absolutely. And, you know, like you said, I mean, I'm sure parents from day one have had worries and concerns for their children, but it does just seem to be escalating, you know, in this generation and particularly, like you said, because of the social media and the comparison and all of these concerns that we didn't have to face and we do need the most powerful weapon in order to fight this battle. Prayer is the answer. You have kind of this trademark method of sort of diving into prayer from head to toe. Tell us about how you use that in the praying for your husband and how you've leveraged that into this book. 

How does this help readers sort of dive into praying?  

Sharon Jaynes  

Okay, there are several reasons that this is helpful. One is it gives you a method of praying and there's nothing magical about it. But you remember when Jesus' disciples said, Lord teach us to pray. I mean, they didn't know how to pray and teach us. And he gave them what we have come to call the Lord's Prayer. And I don't think he meant that at all to become a rote prayer that we say, but it's really a pattern of prayer. We praise God for who he is, we thank him for what he's done, we pray for our needs, we ask him to forgive us our sins, and there's just this pattern, then we end up praising him again at the end. So this is praying from your head to toe, it's really a pattern of prayer to cover someone in prayer. We use that word a lot in the Christian realm of covering someone, but this is literally covering someone in prayer, and I think probably the easiest way for the listeners to understand is for us to actually just go through them. And I want to say this, Ellen, as we go through these different, I call them landmarks of prayer, as we go through these, it takes a lot longer to explain them than it does to actually frame them. So don't get overwhelmed and think, oh, I can't do this. Actually, it takes about five to seven minutes to cover your child in prayer every day. So don't get discouraged if you hear this long explanation, but let's just go through those. I think that's the easiest way. And we're going to start right at the top. 

We start at the top with praying for our child or our husbands, praying for their mind. I mean, the Bible says that, do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So this is where it really starts, you know, we can't act differently than we think. And so many times as parents, we were praying for different actions of our children to change certain behaviors for our children, but it really starts from the mind. Again, they can't act differently than they think.  

So we're going to be praying about the thoughts that go in their mind, that tumble around their mind, what they're thinking about. And as we go through these landmarks, the way the book is laid out is there are 30 days in the book and then there are each one of these landmarks every day. So every day you're covering them. So you're going to start at the mind, what they're thinking about. And then we know that what they think about will ultimately be what they are about. It is so important to start with the mind.  

And then we're going to move to their eyes, this is praying for what they look at. And the eyes are the portal that many thoughts will use to come into the mind. So we're going to pray for their eyes and what they look at. And it's different from what we see and what we look at. I don't know if you can just tell that little nuance there, but we're going to see things. That's one thing. But what we look at, what we ponder, what we stare at, what we really concentrate on with our eyes. So we're going to be praying about what they look at. Then we're going to pray for their ears and this is what they listen to, who they listen to. And we know if they listen to the wrong voices, they're going to make the wrong choices. So we're going to pray for what they listen to throughout the day. Again, we're praying scripture, not my opinion on any of this, praying straight scripture so you'll have the scripture and then under it you'll have the prayer to pray that in. Then we're praying for the mouth. Now the mouth is the words that they speak. We know the Bible tells us that death and life are in the power of the tongue. So we're going to be praying for those words. But I want to say here, Ellen, remember that old saying monkey do, monkey see, monkey do, monkey do the same issue. You know, we pray about their words, but listen, kids are going to end up doing what they hear their parents doing. So whatever we, we can pray about it, we should pray about it, but we also need to make sure that we need to watch what's coming out of our own mouth. If we're critical, gossiping, if we're using swear words, and we can pray about what our kids are going to say, but if they hear us doing it, they're probably going to do it too. So we're going to pray about those words. We know all three scripture words are important. I mean, God spoke the world into existence. He said it and there it was. And then he gave us that gift of words. So we need to pray about how they're going to use those words. Now that's just the head. What happens in the head? But then we're going to move to the neck and the neck is what turns the head. Don't have to just tell me this because you're my friend. But I didn't say this in the book, but I really got this from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Okay. I am confessing. I'm confessing because if there's one little part in there for the mom says, um, the daughter is saying the father is the head of the home. And the mother says, yes, but the mother is the neck that turns the head. Okay. True confession. It's out.  

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

Yes! I knew it! I love it!  

Sharon Jaynes  

But the neck is what turns the head. So we are praying for the neck because what turns the head and how our children make decisions. Now, not just big factory wedding, but it is all through the Bible where God tells us not to be stiff-necked, and that is making decisions to be stubborn and obstinate really against God. So we're praying for the decisions that turn their heads because decisions create destinies and choices create histories.  

And that's whether we're talking about world history or our own history. So we're praying about those choices. Now, then we're going to move down. And I want to say this, it would be nice, sometimes I think, you know, God was really taking a risk when he gave us the gift of choice. And sometimes I wish I didn't have free will and I just did automatically what God wanted me to do. But that's not the way it is. He gives us a choice. He gives us the ability to make decisions. And we're going to be praying about that for our kids.  

Now, we're going to move you out to the shoulders. And all through the Bible, we see that shoulders represent burdens and worries and concerns. So we're going to be praying about the worries and burdens and concerns that our children have. They're going to have them, but we're going to be praying about what they should do with them. That they cast all their burdens and worries on the Lord before he cares for them. No, worries start really early. I mean, it's talking to my four-year-old niece, and she got a guinea pig and I'll say, I had a guinea pig when I was your age. And she said, well, what happened to him? Did he die? And your guinea pig's go to heaven. So all of a sudden she's worried and concerned about this new pet. So those worries and concerns start very early. And we know that they become heavier as the child grows heavier and larger and bigger. You know, they're worrying about test grades. They're worrying about if they're too small, too large compared to their classmates, they are worried about, as we mentioned, school shootings, sexual molestation, they're worried about pandemics so much that they are worried about. So we're going to pray about those worries and concerns that are there down on your shoulders. And then we are going to be praying about their heart. And this is who and what they love. Because we know that what we love ends up being what we are. So we're going to be praying about who and what they love, praying that they'll want Jesus with all their heart. 

Then we're praying for their back. And this is for their spiritual protection. We've already talked about the fact that we're in fighting a spiritual battle. And when you look at the in Ephesians, where it talks about putting on the armor of God, you have the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, sword of spirit, which is the word of God, belt of truth, each shot with the gospel piece. The only thing that is not covered is the back. So we can be praying that God will have their back. And we're praying for spiritual protection in the physical realm and in the spiritual realm. Then we're going to pray for their arms. Now all through the Bible we say that the strong arm of God represents his strength and that the strength, we're praying for them that their strength will be where God flows in their life. We're going to be praying for strength of character, courage, purpose, to be all that God has fashioned them to be. We're going to pray that they'll be strong physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Now that's halfway through, so I'm going to take a breath, Ellen, and let you chime in right here, and then we'll get back to the hands.  

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

Yes, you know, just that whole process, I think, of thinking about things, like visually as you're going through it. And you know, you've mentioned so many scriptural connections. I think the one that just sort of touched my heart was the heart, you know, when you said, you know, that we need to be praying for their heart.  

Sharon Jaynes  

Yes.  

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

What they love. And I think that that's just, it's so crucial because there's so many things in this world that are trying to draw them away from, you know, God being their first love. So thank you for the first half. All right. How about the second half?  

Sharon Jaynes  

It is so true. Okay, so now let's go. We got the shoulders. This is the head and shoulders, nose and toe Christian style. So we've got the shoulders, we've got the backs, we've got their arms, and then at the end of the arm we have their hands. And this is their gifts and talents that God has given them, praying that they'll discover what those unique gifts and talents are and then develop them. 

And sometimes, you know, as parents, we're not really sure what those are. So we're going to pray that God will show them and us what that is. We're not trying to make little many means to be who we want them to be, but who God's created them to be. So praying for what that is. And then at the. In the hand, there's this ring finger right here, so we're going to be praying for the for their future spouse. And so when you are praying for the child's future spouse, you're praying from most likely for someone you haven't met yet. And I just want to interject here, Ellen, I became a Christian through a praying mother, but it was not my mother. There was, as we're thinking about praying for our children, we also need to be praying for other people's children that come into our child's life. There was a woman, my best friend lived on the next block for me growing up and my family was just, had so much alcohol and abuse and it was just a very difficult home to live in. I grew up terrified as a child. But on the next block, my best friend's mom was a Christian. And we went, I started spending the night with him, going to church with them. She told me about Jesus from the time I was 12, just mentoring me all the way until I was 14. And one night when I was 14, she asked me if I was ready to accept Jesus as my savior. And I said, yes. Now here's the icing on the cake. And it's a long story, I don't have time to tell you today, but three years after I accepted Christ, my mother accepted Christ, and then three years after her, my mean old dad drinking, wife beating, carousing dad, gave his life to Jesus and became the sweetest man I've ever known. So all that happened started with a praying mom. Praying for people who were not, that a little girl that was not her own. So you have no idea, mamas that are listening, the impact that you will have on your children's friends. So I want to encourage you there as we stop and ponder praying for their spouse, we're going to go down to the very next one is the side. And the side, it's who is walking with your child throughout life, those influential relationships. And I'm talking kindergarten all the way through the college, those friends that they have in their lives, they're going to, we're going to pray that they will have Christian friends, but let's not forget about those people who come into our homes in our children's lives who are not Christians. I was one of those. So make sure that we're not putting them in a little bubble so they're not exposed to any other influence. I mean, we've got to be careful, sure. We've got to be careful, but we're going to be praying for those people that come into their lives who are not believers as well. 

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

Yes.  

Sharon Jaynes  

Then we're going to pray for their sexuality as we're moving on down. And that's when you asked me earlier, Ellen, about concerns that parents are having. This is huge. They're so concerned about sexuality of their children. And so when we're on sexuality, we're praying for sexual purity for our children. And we're praying that there will not be confusion about sexual identity. And yes, we're going to go there and we are praying. Again, it's not my opinion. 

We are praying straight scripture as we're talking about celebrating who God made us to be, that God knit us together in our mother's womb. We read that in Psalm 139 and he didn't say, oops. So we're going to be praying about that for our children. They want to be praying for their legs and that is their stand. To be a Christian today as a child or as an adult, you have got to take a firm stand and be strong in that stand. It takes courage to be a Christian today. It is not just the American way that it used to be. So we're going to be praying for their legs as they stand on Godly principles and as they stand on the truth. And here's one sentence that I wrote in the book and I can't say as well as I wrote it. So let me just read it to you. It says, if they do not stand on truth, the world becomes a confusing place and the undertow of uncertainty can pull them out to see the riptide of questions and the shifting times of change. So we're going to be praying that those stand in the truth. And we're going to pray for the needs. And this is their relationship with Jesus, their relationship with God, as they humble themselves before God, and as they worship God and have communion with God. Praying for that relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And finally, get to the feet. And as we get to the feet, we are praying for the path that they take, for the path. That they're free to take today and through life, the journey that they take, that they will keep in step with God. So that is 16 different landmarks going from top to bottom. Again, it takes longer to explain it than it does to pray it, so don't get scared off by that. About five to seven minutes a day of praying scripture over each area. Then you get through those 30 days and most people just start back over at the beginning and keep going through that.  

But as you're doing this, it's also, it's training us to be able to know how to pray scripture. And when I don't have my book or my Bible with me and I have not memorized the Bible, I can still follow that pattern of praying for the people in the world.  

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

Mm hmm. That is just so incredibly helpful. You know, one of the things that comes to my mind is last night we were actually in our couple small group with our church and we were talking about humility and just how Jesus is our example. So in so many of these areas that you mentioned, you mentioned the one about being strong and just, you know, Jesus' combination of humility and his great strength at the same time, I think, you know, is just such a good role model for us when we maybe aren't sure like how to pray for them to live this out.  

Sharon Jaynes  

One thing I learned a long time ago, this is so good I have to say it, that when we were reading about Jesus' humility and His meekness, the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, New Testament in Greek, and the Greek word for meek there, which really relates to humble, is war horse under control. Don't you love that? That has always stuck with me, war horse under control. So that's what meek is, is not being milk test personality and saying whatever goes, goes, it's a war horse under control. So I'd love that you brought that up.  

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

Yeah, yeah, that really helps us stand strong for sure. And yeah, not giving into the ways of the world. Well, you have indicated that, you know, these prayers, you know, are so important. How do we make sure that like, somebody listening to this maybe is like, you know, are you praying just to gain control over what you know, they're doing or help us understand the purpose behind it.   

Sharon Jaynes  

As we're praying scripture and not just our own opinions, it's really not to gain control, but it's really releasing control. So we are praying that God will make them into the men and women that he wants them to be. See scripture says that God is the potter and we are the clay. Sometimes as mamas we're thinking, hmm, I think I'm the potter and I'm going to mold and shape this child the way I want them to be. But when we're praying, that's not what we're praying. We're relinquishing that control. Which also really relinquishes our burden and worry that we're saying, oh Lord, this child is yours, we are praying for them, you to do what you need to do to make them into the man or woman that you want them to be. And I'm going to speak to the worry and burden of a mama right now, because I'm sure there's someone listening that has been praying for a child or maybe someone else in their lives, and they just don't see it happening, and they feel like God's not listening.  

But I want to assure you that he is. If you think about, you know, sometimes as mamas, we want to pray that our children won't struggle. But when have you grown the most in your own life, Ellen? Probably during a time of struggle. Am I right? I know in my life, it has definitely been when I've had a difficult time or struggle in my life, when I have grown the most spiritually. 

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

Mm-hmm. Yes. Yep. Sure. Yes, absolutely. 

Sharon Jaynes  

So as we are praying and we see our children struggling, we think God's not answering our prayers. Oh, we need to know God is always at work. That's what Jesus said about his father. He said, my father is always at work and he's always working behind the scenes. In another book I wrote called When You Don't Like Your Story, what if your worst chapters could become your greatest victories? I go into great detail about a man in the Bible named Joseph, really a boy in the Bible named Joseph, and he had a dream that he was going to be, his parents and his brothers were going to bow down to him one day. And his brothers didn't like him already in the first place, but he made the mistake of telling them about his dream. And so he told them about the dream, and that was a prophetic dream. But over the next 17 years, Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. He served as a slave in Potiphar, a man's household. He was accused of attempted rape by Potiphar's wife, which he did not know. He was thrown into prison and at each one of those steps it says, and God was with him when he was in Potiphar's household as a slave, and God was with him when he was in prison, and God was with him. Now I do not think that Joseph was thinking, oh boy, God is with me. He's really working.  

I don't think he felt that at all, but God was working. And it's 17 years before that prophecy came into being. And that's what we need to just keep in mind that as you're praying for your children, and it looks like God's not working, He is still working and we need to keep praying because He's always working behind the scenes to make the pain in our meanwhile worthwhile.  

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

Yes, yes, absolutely. I know I've definitely felt that way at times, and God's timing isn't our timing, and we need to allow him to do the work that he is doing in their lives. So trust is such a big thing, but I know from firsthand experience, it can be hard when you just want the best for them, right? And understanding that, you know, the trials they go through are what is helping to shape them into that godly man or woman. Well, I'm not sure that I'm alone when I say that. Sometimes I wander when I pray, and I have ADHD, so I'm the first to say yes, this happens to me. How can this book and method of praying really help someone stay focused when they're praying?  

Sharon Jaynes  

I, my mind would wander just like yours. And then I would sit down and pray and then next thing you know, I'm thinking about what I needed to go to restore. And I'm like, Oh Lord, I'm so sorry. And then come back and start praying again. And it would wander off to somebody needs to text. So what, what happens when you are, have this book with you and you are praying specifically going from head to toe, it will help you stay focused so that your mind doesn't wander. And, that's one of the reasons I wrote it too, because I think mind wandering is, it's really difficult for everyone to stay focused when they pray. So it's a way, it's a pattern of prayer to help you know where to start and where to end.  

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

Yes, I can, you know, I can envision myself, you know, touching my head and my shoulders and this, like, you know, kind of going through the whole process as you're praying along. Well, what do you say to the person like who, you know, reads the prayers and they're like really excited to pray the prayers in this book, but maybe they feel like a little guilty about praying a prayer that someone else wrote. Like, do they need to feel guilty about that?   

Sharon Jaynes  

Oh, here's the, I think you should feel as guilty as the disciples when they prayed the Lord's prayer. How about that? Because again, I these are not my words that they're praying. They're praying scripture. Now, yes, they've been changed and rearranged a bit for the prayer. But you're praying, you're praying, you're praying the scripture and what Jesus told his disciples, he told them what to pray and they were basically praying things from scripture that God is holy, that God is our Father. And so you're not, you don't need to feel guilty at all. God just loves to hear you pray. He loves the prayers. Whether we speak them or not out loud, He is hearing them. So again, don't need to feel guilty about it. You just pray in God's word.  

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

Absolutely, absolutely. And I think what's so great about these prayers is that there's so many things like that I wouldn't have thought of myself, you know, and the way you have them laid out brings so many things up. And like you said, like as you're reading one of them, it might bring to mind a niece or a nephew or a friend of your kids that like, wow, okay, and please, Lord, please help so-and-so in this area too. So I love the variety and just that it's all scripture-based. 

Sharon Jaynes  

And you might be praying those 16 landmarks and you get to one, for example, maybe you get to the side and you think, I really need to just pray about that. You don't have to go through all 16, but the spirit will lead you, if you're praying for the side and praying for friends and praying for friendships and relationships for your child, and you might want to just stay on that one for a week, just one. So it's nothing legalistic about it, it's just a pattern. 

And again, the spiritual guide, you don't feel guilty if you don't get through all 16, even though it's only five or seven minutes, keep that in mind. But if God just impresses on your heart, you need to pray about this one thing. You can just stay on that one thing. So many different ways to use it.  

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

Yeah. You know, for those that may be listening to this that might be feeling, you know, really discouraged about, you know, the state of their child, what would you recommend as far as maybe some scripture verses that would encourage them?  

Sharon Jaynes  

Well, I think, you know, the one I just told you about Joseph, it's a great example, going back and reading that story about Joseph that's at the end of Genesis, it takes up quite a lot of room in the book of Genesis when you think about it. But reading his story, it could be a tremendous help just to see the struggles that he had. And you know, almost everyone in the Bible that God used had incredible struggles in their lives. So I mean, I could make a list, but I think we can all think of five to 10 right off the top of our head of the people that God used and the struggles that they had. So the struggles make us stronger. And if you see your child struggling, God's probably doing something in that little cocoon before the butterfly breaks out of the cocoon to fly away. But we can never, speaking of cocoon, if you see the butterfly struggling to get out and you cut it open to help it then the butterfly will probably not fly. So the struggles are important and just know that it's just part of the process of becoming a good human being.  

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think of David and if you have a child, let's say, who's had some indiscretion that they feel is unforgivable. I mean, think of the example of David when everything that he did and God still considered him a man after his own heart. So don't give up.  

Sharon Jaynes  

And his great-grandmother was a prostitute too, so you know, all through the Bible you see God using people better. You have lots of laws. So, it's part of the process.  

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

Yeah, absolutely. Well, Sharon, you have so many incredible resources, tell people about where they can go to learn more about you and your books.  

Sharon Jaynes  

Okay, my website is probably the best place and it's sharonjaynes.com. And my last name's kind of quirky. So I mean, probably you'll see it in the show notes, but it's J-A-Y-N-E-S. So sharonjaynes.com. My books are there, they're on Amazon, CBD, in several different languages, they're audio books. So I invite you just to go and look around. I think every book has a free reading, you can open them up and read them a little bit. And then on my website also, there's a section called free resources. And there's a lot of things that you can download for free and print out. And one I'd love for you to check out is called Praying for Your Child's Teacher from Head to Toe. So it's one that I created this September for people that are going back to school praying for your child's teacher. Following is just one day, but it's praying the same process for the teacher. You can print that out that's all for free lots of lots of free goodies on there so I encourage you to do that. I'm also on Facebook just Sharon Jaynes and I have another Facebook page it's you go to Facebook forward slash Sharon Jaynes the praying wives club so that's another forward slash I believe so the praying wives club and I have a prayer a prayer every day for praying for your husband, praying scripture for your husband.  

So that one's up right now. There might be another for children later.  

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

Oh, awesome. Well, we will make sure we include all of those links in the show notes. I know for me in particular that, you know, being a great mom book, like even though my kids are older, I cannot let go of that book like that. It's a treasure. And I'll be using it for my grandkids, I hope someday.  

Sharon Jaynes  

Oh, thank you so much. 

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

All right, Sharon, before we go, I just want to ask you some of our favorite Bible study tool questions. What Bible is your go-to Bible and what translation is it?  

Sharon Jaynes  

Well, I use the NIV 1985 edition. I get a little pushback on that a lot of times and when I do a book, I can't use it. I have to, they have to use the updated version but I still love that one. I, most of the scripture I've memorized is from that one but that's my, that's my go-to. Can't let go of it.  

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

That's okay. That's okay. That's an excellent translation. Okay. Do you have any favorite journaling supplies or anything that you like to use to enhance your Bible study experience?  

Sharon Jaynes  

I am not a journaler, which I know people find that very strange, but I take a lot of notes. I have spiral notebooks, tons of them, that I just tend to learn best when I write things down. Even when I'm studying, you know, when I'm reading a scripture, taking notes in a sermon, I just learn better if I write it down. So I just have spiral notebooks everywhere. I tried, I got this thing called a remarkable which is like a pad and you write it down digitally. It can translate and you can turn in the paper you can print out but I just keep going back to my little spiral notebook. So back to school time, I go and stock up on the on the spiral notebook. So that's how I get back to old school. Sorry trees but that's how I work.  

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

Yes. Yes, I completely concur. I learn in the same way even when I'm reading a book, I love to take notes to help it sink in. Lastly here, what is your favorite app or website for Bible study tools? 

Sharon Jaynes  

Well, I love Bible Hub, BibleHub.com. And one reason I love that is because when you put in a verse, it gives you all the translations. So you can see all the different translations there. And it also has a Greek button, Hebrew button. So you can look up different words in the verses in Hebrew, Old Testament, Greek, New Testament. And I use that a lot.  

So I love that one and I love the Youversion on the Bible app on my phone. So that one was really helpful when you're sitting in an airport or in a waiting room. So I love that Bible app, Youversion.  

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

Yes, it sure. Yeah, those are great ones. We will make sure we include links to those as well. Well, Sharon, thank you so much for being here today just to take the time to speak to our audience to offer hope and encouragement for children through praying the scriptures. We're just so grateful for all of the time that you've invested in this and the resource that you've made available.  

Sharon Jaynes  

Thank you, Ellen, and thank you for having me with you today.  

Ellen (Mentor Mama)  

Absolutely. And for our listeners, be sure to get a copy of Sharon's book, Praying for Your Child from Head to Toe. We will have the link in our show notes for easy ordering. We love you all and appreciate you listening today. Have a blessed day.