If you know anything about Israel's history, you know that the Philistines were a constant source of trouble. The Israelites had been battling them on and off for years before Samuel came on the scene, and then for years afterward -- they are the guys who produced Goliath, the defiant giant whose death catapulted David into the national spotlight. When Samuel set up his Ebenezer stone, he certainly had no illusions that the Philistines had been banished forever.
But did that stop him from thanking God, or from giving him public glory? Not at all! Samuel set up the stone as a marker -- a sign of remembrance -- so that in the years and generations to come, all of Israel would be able to look at it and say, "Thus far has the Lord helped us."
As praying parents, this is the attitude that we need to take. Rather than cowering in worry or fear over the Philistines that lurk around our next corner, we need to stop and thank God for what he has already done in our teenagers' lives. When God works in answer to our prayers, we need to raise our own Ebenezers, giving him credit and honor for what he has done "thus far" --and knowing that he will be there for us in the future.
Praying the Scriptures for your Teenagers by Jodie Berndt
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