You most likely already know you need to pray for your children. But have you ever thought of those prayers as a way to intentionally battle for your children? Someone once told me “anything that brings us to our knees in prayer is a good thing. It brings us back to dependence on God”. As I’ve wrestled with that on and off over the years, one thing has remained consistent – my 5 children bring me to my knees in prayer more often than not!

I, like you, desire to be intentional in parenting our children. But in the day-to-day battles of strong wills, sibling squabbles, character building, teaching, parenting the heart, and homemaking we can easily lose sight of the biggest battle we need to fight. A battle that is for, not against our kids.

Without a doubt, intentionally battling for your kids in prayer is one of the most powerful things you can do as a parent.

But why? Why does intentional prayer matter?

Mom, we need to recognize that we have an enemy. One whose desire is to destroy our families and our children. If we don’t recognize our need to battle the enemy, we won’t recognize the importance of intentional prayer.

God’s word warns us of this truth about our adversary:

1 Peter 5:8-9
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Ephesians 6:12
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

But here is the good news.

God has equipped you to be a prayer warrior Mama! Yes even when you feel like you can’t! He will give you the strength and power you need, through Him, to Intentionally Battle for Your Kids in Prayer!

Time and again He encourages us through scripture to fight the battle. We are to put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil (Ephesians 6:11) and remember that though the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy, He came that we may have life and have it abundantly in John 10:10. 

We have been given an amazing gift to be able to approach the throne of God with petitions for our children. He hears our prayers. Prayer is our direct line to our heavenly father who created our children, the one who knows them better than we do!

So how do we do start intentionally battling for our kids in prayer?

How to Intentionally Battle for Your Kids in Prayer

As I’ve sought to become more intentional in prayer for our kids, there are 4 keys I keep coming back to.

#1 Start Intentionally Praying for Your Own Heart

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

Be open and humble. Let God to speak to your heart. Ask Him to show you any areas of misunderstanding, anger, bitterness, resentment or control may have taken root. Let Him help you turn those areas of struggle over to Him.

Step out in the confidence that you are seeking God’s best for your child when you’ve turned over all of your garbage to Him first!

# 2 Be Intentional in Creating a Plan for Prayer

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. Proverbs 16:9 

I may have the best intentions to pray for my kids but when I don’t have a plan, I fail. Plain and simple.

So as you’re seeking to intentionally battle for your kids in prayer, try asking yourself these questions to come up with a plan.

• What season am I in? Do you have littles right now? Maybe tweens or teens? Or are your kids grown and out of the house? Your season should be taken into consideration when coming up with a plan.
• When will I pray or how much time will I realistically be able to count on for prayer? What does your season mean regarding when you will pray? Remember this doesn’t have to be sitting down in your “quiet time spot” and praying. If you can, great! If not, it’s ok. You can pray while cleaning or doing laundry, when nursing or when running errands. The point is to intentionally think through it. Don’t leave it up to “if I have time”, make time and make a plan.
• What method, tools or help will you use to intentionally battle for your kids in prayer? Will you journal your prayers in a notebook or purchase journals for each child? Will you use an app to track prayer requests and be sent reminders to pray? Maybe for this season, it would be best for you to sign up for a prayer challenge like the ones Kathie has PRAYING BIBLICAL VIRTUES FOR YOUR CHILDREN or PRAYER CHALLENGE – PRAYING BIBLICAL VIRTUES FOR YOUR CHILDREN!

#3 Find Accountability When Intentionally Battling for Your Kids in Prayer

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. James 5:16

Looking for accountability when praying for your kids will go a long way! Believe me, you want the support and encouragement of other like-minded Moms when you grow weary in prayer (it’ll likely happen). Also, it’s such a blessing to know that others are praying for your kids as you pray for theirs also!

Find support in your community group, your local church, homeschool groups or online facebook groups. You will be thankful for that nudge to keep praying when you feel like giving up!

#4 Be flexible and Continually Grow in Your Prayer Life

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. John 14:26 

All that being said, when creating a plan, we also want to have soft hearts (see #1 – wink). We want to be open to God redirecting our steps! As our seasons change, our time commitment, methods and amount of time that we spend intentionally battling for our kids in prayer may change too. That’s ok and even good! We should be sensitive to the Holy Spirit guiding us in our journey!

So Mom, can I challenge you to not lose sight of the importance of praying for your kids? It is the BEST battle you can fight as a parent! As you prepare to Intentionally Battle for Your Kids in Prayer I want to challenge you to take these steps and put them into action!

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Ephesians 6:10 

ACTION STEPS FOR POWERFUL PRAYER:

1. This week pray for and prepare your own heart for the battle!
2. Ask yourself the questions under #2 to help develop (and write down!) a plan.
3. Find accountability.
4. Start praying!

Download and use these FREE scripture cards to help you focus on How to Intentionally Battle for Your Kids in Prayer!

Click HERE!

Don’t miss the other posts in the series! Sign up here and get the challenge delivered straight to your inbox each day!

A special thank you to series sponsor Tricia Goyer!  

Have you ever wanted to read through the Bible but found yourself giving up? Or even worse, you read the chapters and at the end question how they apply to your life. Tricia Goyer understands. For years she felt frustrated that she couldn’t stick to her commitment to read God’s Word all the way through.

Things changed when she found a doable plan and wrote out a daily prayer. Tricia’s heart changed. Her life did, too. God can bring real transformation into your heart and life when you daily commit to reading your Bible and praying through God’s Word. Praying through the Bible in One Year offers a guided reading plan and a daily prayer starter to help you make God’s Word applicable to your life. Discover the inspiration for real-life transformation.

****

Lee Felix is a Daily redeemed Christ follower and wife of 20 years who’s called ‘mama’ by five of the BEST kiddos you ever did meet. Transparently sharing her journey through imperfect yet intentional parenting, she has a heart to encourage and equip other imperfect, like-minded mamas.

As an experienced Blogger, Virtual Assistant, Speaker, and Creator of Christian Resources she’s found her “happy place” in online business and ministry serving others. Being a delightfully awkward introvert and avoider of small talk, she’ll never pass up a one on one conversation or an opportunity to dive into the heart of the issue with you over copious amounts of coffee.

Join Lee in the journey through imperfect yet intentional parenting in her Private Imperfect Moms Facebook Community, get access to her FREEBIES Hub of Biblical Resources, or connect on Social Media! Facebook I Facebook Community I Pinterest I Twitter I Instagram