Healing
Healing Your Past
Healing Year by Year
Hurts in the Womb
Early Childhood
The Teenage Years
Early Adult Years
Middle Adulthood
The Twilight Years
Healing the Generations
Healing Prayers
Pray It Forward
Pray it Forward Prayers

Childhood years can be loving and happy years, they can also be tragic and terrible years.

As children we are like sponges, absorbing everything around us. We see adults as role models and mould ourselves on what we see and hear and on the way we are treated. Children trust implicitly and when that trust is broken it leaves terrible damage and scars.

These are the years when children feel 'abondoned' if mothers have to work and use babysitters. These are the years when the child first starts school and similar feelings can occur. These are the years when other school children can pick on their school pals and bully or call names. Even teachers can be harsh or sharp of tongue on little ones at school and it is important to recognise the reasons behind tantrums, perhaps the child is coming from a painful home situation.

Abuse of little children comes in many shapes and forms and each hurtful episode is buried deep, often blocked out of the conscious mind entirely. Constant criticism of a child is abuse, bullying by an adult or another child is abuse, comparisons with other children's abilities is a form of abuse, physical beatings is abuse, parents fighting in front of their children is abuse, parent's neglect of, and indifference to, children is abuse, parent's lack of gentle discipline and guidance of children is abuse, one parent using the children as a 'weapon' against their spouse is abuse, and sexually interferring with a child has to be one of the greatest abuses.

We will ask the Lord to lead us gently through each year of our lives up to the time we reached our teens. We will ask Him to remove the hurts, the pain and the anger associated with any kind of abuse we experienced during those years. Saying the prayer below to the Holy Spirit will guide us gently back to areas in our childhood that may need healing.

"O Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul, I adore You. Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console me, tell me what I should do. Give me Your orders. I promise to submit myself to all that You desire of me and to accept all that You permit to happen to me. Let me only know Your will. Amen"

We should also ask the Lord to help us to forgive our abusers because when we can forgive and pray for that person or people we can truly say that we have forgiven and then the deep, deep healing can begin.

Short Prayer for Today

"Lord, I ask You to let Your Holy Spirit bring to the surface memories of hurt and pain from any situation in my childhood, to let me hand them all over to You and that You will fill every space with Your loving and Divine peace. Help me to know that I am a beautiful child of yours, loving in Your eyes and heart and completely loved by You. Help me to shed the feelings of worthlessness, nothingness, shame, guilt and anger and to experience only Your healing peace. Let me now see myself as Your most beautiful creation. Lord I hand all over to Your gentle and loving care, knowing You will hear me today and heal me forever."

Children Learn What They Live

If a child lives with criticism, He learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility, He learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule, He learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame, He learns to be guilty.
If a child lives with tolerance, He learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement, He learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise, He learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness, He learns justice.
If a child lives with security, He learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval, He learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, He learns to find love in the world.