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Baruch
Ata Adonai, Elohaynu Melech ha-Olam, she-he-che-ya-nu
v'kee-ma-nu v'hee-gee-ah-nu laz-man ha-zeh. Blessed
are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe,
who has granted us life and sustained us and permitted
us to reach this season.
XXX and
YYY, welcome, and may you be blessed by the God
of Israel, who is the Living God! The Word of
God tells us that the Son of God, whose heart
reflects the heart of God the Father, has a special
place in His heart for little children. One day
when people brought Yeshua babies to touch, His
disciples were annoyed and rebuked the people.
After all, babies don’t have political or
economic or social power or influence, and focusing
on them is no way to build a great movement. However,
Messiah had a much different attitude toward the
children. He rebuked His disciples and said: Let
the children come to Me and stop hindering them,
because the kingdom of God belongs to such as
these. On another occasion He also said: See that
you never despise one of these little ones, for
I tell you that their angels in Heaven are continually
seeing the face of My Father in Heaven.
When we
dedicate children to the Lord God of Israel, we
are following the example of Channah, the mother
of the prophet Samuel, who made a vow and said:
O Lord of Hosts, if You will indeed look on
the affliction of your maidservant and remember
me, and not forget your maidservant, but will
give your maidservant a son, then I will give
him to the Lord all the days of his life...
The Almighty answered her prayer, and after Samuel
was miraculously born she said: For this boy
I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition
which I asked of Him. So I have dedicated him
to the Lord; as long as he lives he is dedicated
to the Lord (1 Samuel 1:11, 27-28).
Dedication
comes from the Hebrew word "Chanach",
the same word used in Chanukkah. Chanach has contains
the idea of initiating, beginning, inaugurating,
starting something off to serve God's purposes.
It is used in Proverbs 22:6: Chanoch - train
up, dedicate, a child in the way he should go,
even when he is old he will not depart from it.
That tells us that good child rearing must begin
at a very young age. Like the newly rebuilt Temple
was solemnly dedicated to the Lord, so these children
are to be dedicated as a Temple of the Holy Spirit
while they are young and teachable.
Start your child from his earliest age in the
way of the of the Lord, fearing God, and being
committed to obeying His wise principles for living.
Tell him about his duties to God and man. Teach
her all of the Bible, both the Tenach and the
New Testament, and particularly about our Messiah
and Lord and Savior, and His teachings, and miracles,
and His death and His amazing resurrection and
His coming again. Teach the Scriptures continually
and diligently to him, and talk of them when you
sit in your house and when you walk by the way
and when you lie down and when you rise up.
Dedicate
your new son to God, not just today, but continually.
Initiate him, train him, plant these truths in
his mind on a daily basis, until they take firm
root. Then help your son implement these things
until they become a habit, until he is accustomed
to do them. Pray for him to grow in his knowledge
of God, and the Scriptures, and salvation and
righteousness and holiness.
Warn him
that if he ignores God, and loves the world, and
the things of the world, and desires its pleasures,
he is almost certain to live for the world when
he comes to adulthood, and may miss out on that
which is true life.
But it
is not enough to encourage your child to follow
the truths in God's Word, and warn him about the
ways of the world. You must model these truths
yourself. He must see you obeying God's commands
and living the right way. This will count more
than anything else in his training.
XXX and
YYY, do you promise to raise your child to know
and love and obey the Lord his God? The congregation
and your friends and family are witnesses.
And you
members of the Messiah’s Holy Community,
do you promise to encourage this family to raise
this children in the fear of the Lord, as much
as you are able?
Let’s
pray: God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of
Jacob, righteous and holy Father of our Lord Yeshua
the Messiah, we acknowledge that children are
a gift from you; the fruit of the womb is a reward
that You give. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
so are the children of one's youth. How blessed
is the man and woman whose quiver is full of them!
May XXX and YYY rejoice in this child, as it is
written: Let your parents be happy; let your
mother thrill for joy.
Adon
Olam, Ruler of Heaven and Earth, sustain this
child for his father and mother. May (give name
of child) fulfill his name. (I then add prayers
based on the name of the child).
In Your
great mercy, O Lord our God, give him a pure and
holy heart to serve you all the days of his life.
May he become great in Your Torah. May his heart
be open to understand Your Word, to learn and
teach, keep and practice it. May he enter into
a life of good deeds, and if it be Your will,
a good marriage. May he enter into the New Covenant
and the salvation found in Messiah Yeshua. May
he grow up to be a faithful son who forever remains
within Your house. May he be blessed in this life
and be rewarded with eternal life in the world
to come!
(Name
of child), your parents present you this day to
the Lord. Like Samuel before you, may you always
be dedicated to Him. The kingdom of God belongs
you those like you! May He who blessed the fathers,
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and brought a Savior
to their children, may He bless this child who
was dedicated to the living and eternal God this
day.
XXX, YYY,
and (name of child), may the Lord, bless you and
keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you
and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His
countenance on you, and give you peace. May Your
grace and favor and blessing, our Father and our
King, rest upon this family all the days of their
lives! Amen.
XXX is
the father
YYY is the mother |
