Participating in the Miracle

I recently read I Dared to Call Him Father, by Bilquis Sheikh with Richard H. Schneider.  It was so good that I then read it aloud to the family.  I highly recommend it.  I have been pondering a quote from the book,
" My heart singing, I tried to explain to Khalid (her grown muslim son) that the Lord wants our companionship.  When we pray, He wants to work with us.  It was the Moses' Rod Principle.  If I had just put the problem in the Lord's hands without stepping out in faith myself, I might never have gotten the clearance.  I had to step out by doing everything I could.  I had to ask to see the man in charge.  Just as God required Moses to strike the rock with a rod, He asks us, too, to participate in the working of miracles." 

God had taught Bilquis to trust Him and obey Him whether she understood what He was asking or not, so it wasn't a matter of her making God do what she wanted, but rather a participating with what she believed God was doing in the situation.  Faith meant she went ahead linking her actions with her belief.  And God rewarded her faith with a miracle.

I've been thinking about this in terms of our children -- do we treat them with faith in what God is doing in their lives?  Do we speak into their lives according to what we have seen in the Word that God wants to do in their lives?  Do we hold onto what God wants to make of them regardless of what we see before us, viewing them through the eyes of faith?  Do we give them hope that they can be spiritually victorious and that we believe God is doing and will do wondrous things in their lives?  Sometimes a wayward one doesn't have faith for their own overcoming, perhaps doesn't even want to overcome, but what we think of them -- how we see them affects in the long run how they view themselves.  This is especially powerful in the family/home setting.  It IS God's will that they are saved and that they walk with Him.  He asks us to pray, sometimes to fast and pray, and to obey Him step by step (one time striking the rock, one time speaking to it) in our dealings with them.  We must stay very close to the LORD to hear His voice and follow His directing, participating in the miracle He wants to perform.