Favor and Character

Every morning as I am taking my boys to school and handing them over to other caretakers for the day I pray for them. There are a few things I ask God for concerning them and their day at school. One of these things is favor. I pray for favor with their teachers AND with their classmates.

Today I realized my oldest son is 7 and I have been praying for him to have favor with his classmates and teachers since he started going to school, almost 4 years ago. It has been a request for many years and the verdict is in...Dutch has favor with the people at his school. Dutch is invited to ALL the birthday parties (even the girls only parties). Most of all the teachers know Dutch and they all say without a doubt he is the best kid in school. Ok, so maybe they don't say he is the best, that might be a father's exaggeration, but nevertheless, you could ask anyone, he receives praise from many. All this to say God is answering this prayer. But God is not answering it in a way that I had originally thought.

Today as I dropped the littlest man off, Finnik, I continued this tradition of prayer for favor. I realized I don't want the favor to stop with their school peers and teachers. I want it to continue on even outside of school and into university, into their career, into their marriage, etc. So even as I am praying for favor with the school and classmates, God really impressed on my heart that as I ask for this favor He is doing an even greater work in their hearts. The favor I am praying for means God will transform their character into a character that can only reflect a God given quality or the kind of favor that will bring the most glory to God. It has to be able to transcend this time period in their life.

I am thinking when I pray for favor:
God is going to show the teachers and students how great my kids are.

What God is thinking when I pray for favor:
I am going to work on Dutch, Titus, and Finnik and show them what TRUE character really is.

Only God will sustain the kind of favor I want for my kids. This favor will not be some mystical witches brew but a developed character that is uniquely demonstrated so that others will practically be drawn unto my boys.

When we pray for favor, God answers by transforming our character so that we can accurately define and model what the God of favor actually looks like. It is more about a work on us and our character than it is about how others might or might not see us. It indeed is a dangerous prayer, to ask for favor, because God will work on your perception and your character.