Train up a child in the way he should go. Even when he is old, he will not depart from it.
– Proverbs 22:6
Now, this is not a promise that if you train up a child in the way he should go every single child trained up in this way will never depart from that way. That’s not the way Proverbs work. These are not specific promises or guarantees. There are so many examples of this in Proverbs, where we see principles that are wise to live according to, principles that we should put into practice with trust in God. Again, the whole theme of Proverbs is “In the fear of the Lord.” And so this is a clear instruction to parents, and not just to parents, but think about the whole community of faith, the church, and the responsibility we have to pass the gospel onto the next generation.
Proverbs 22:6 is a calling to the church as a whole.
So to think about children who you have the opportunity to influence, yes, of course in your home, but then beyond even your home, to train up children in the way they should go and to pray that when they are older, they will not depart from it. And there’s really two different directions. I know there are children, there are students, who listen to this podcast, and I want to encourage you to consider how your parents or other people in your life are training you in God’s Word or training you to know God, to pursue God.
And I want to encourage you, based on this verse, to receive that training, to receive that loving care and guidance and wisdom as adults that God has put in your life, try to train you to know and enjoy and walk with God. Receive that in such a way that when you are older, you will be experiencing, and enjoying and knowing and walking with God.
And then for adults who have that influence, parents and others who have this influence in kids’ lives, for us to pray for wisdom, to train up children well, to know God, to walk with God, to enjoy God, to exalt God, to live for what matters most in this world, not for things that will fade away, but for things that will last forever in such a way that when they’re older, as long as the Lord gives them life, that they will find themselves living for what matters most, living to know and enjoy God.
Proverbs 22:6 encourages us to faithfully steward our influence over children’s lives.
So we pray, God, may it be so. God, for children, students who are listening to this, we pray that you would give them humility to receive training in knowing you and walking with you and worshiping you and trusting you and following you and obeying your commands knowing that this leads to life. God, we pray for children, students who are listening to this right now, that they would today obey you and today receive training in following you in such a way that years from now, they would experience the fruit of a life lived knowing and enjoying you.
And God, for all of us who are parents or influences in children’s lives, God, we pray that you would give us wisdom. You would help us to know how best with the children in our lives, to train them in the way they should go. And to show them by example what it means to walk with you and worship you and love you, and to teach them who you are, to teach them about your works and to teach them your Word in such a way that God, we pray, when they grow older, they will not depart from it.
God, we pray that the seeds of your Word that are planted through our lives and our love for the children around us, God, we pray that they would bear fruit in ways that are good for these children for years and years to come all the way until they see you until they stand before you.
Prayer for the Pashtun People
God, help us to wisely train children to be prepared to stand before you one day. And God, as we pray for this in our lives with all the gospel and your Word that we have, we pray for 40 million Pashtun people in Pakistan and Afghanistan and spread out in countries around the world who don’t have your Word and don’t have the good news of Jesus about how to train children to know and enjoy eternal life in Jesus. God, we pray for the spread of the gospel and the spread of your Word to the Pashtun people, that they might experience eternal life in adults and moms and dad’s lives and in kids’ lives all throughout the Pashtun of Pakistan and Afghanistan and so many other places around the world. God, we pray all this according to your Word in Proverbs 22:6, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
