Knowing how to pray for your children isn’t particularly hard. What can get overwhelming at times is not wanting to sound like you’re praying the same things over and over. If you’re looking for practical, yet powerful, ways to pray for your children, keep reading.
How to Pray for Your Children
As Christian parents, we want nothing more than our children to be sealed in Christ Jesus and solid in their personal relationship with Heavenly Father. While there are many things we can do to ensure this happens, nothing supersedes the power of prayer. Below are a few ideas and ways you can pray for your children.
Pray the Word of God
You can never go wrong with using scriptures to pray for your children. In fact, a great way to get started is by choosing a particular bible verse to declare and decree over them on a daily basis. This may not seem like prayer, but it is in fact a way to communicate with God on behalf of your child.
Keep a Prayer Journal
You don’t have to be a writer to keep a prayer journal and your journal doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Grab a spiral notebook or keep some loose-leaf paper in a binder and you’re all set. The best way to get started in your prayer journal is to set aside time each day to pray some specific over your children. Stormie’s book, “The Power of a Praying Parent” is a great tool to use and will provide you with plenty of prayers to get you started.
Make Praying for Your Children Part of Your Morning Prayers
If you’re a morning routine kind of person, it won’t be hard to add praying for your children as a part of it. Consider keeping a collection of prayers on notecards on your nightstand or even taped on the mirror in your bathroom. This will help remind you to pray for them and give your prayers on hand for doing so.
Pray with Your Children
I’ve talked to many adults who say one of their fondest memories is of their mom (and/or dad) praying with them as children. Whether you choose to pray with them before bed or before they leave the house for work, this will touch them more than you ever know. Children today can be blind-sided by the cares of this world and we can help them remember the importance of eternal things.
Join a Prayer Accountability Group
Most churches have mom groups or prayer groups for parents. These come in handy when it comes to needing and/or wanting accountability along your Christian journey. If there isn’t one in your church, consider starting one. This may also be something worth bringing up to your homeschool group. Consider doing a prayer-based bible study to help get rooted, grounded, and comfortable with praying for your children.
What to Pray for Your Children
Now that you have some ideas for how to pray for your children, let’s look at some topics you can use to pray for and over them. Of course, there are the obvious ones like protection from natural disasters and for them to have a pure heart. However, there are some that aren’t always thought of. Below is a list of ideas you can use to create powerful prayers to pray over your children:
- increased knowledge of our Lord
- exhibit the fruits of the Spirit
- strong personal prayer life
- makers of wise choices
- good health
- God’s blessing to be evident in their lives
- their growth toward becoming mature Christians
- the eyes of their hearts
- fear of the Lord
- seekers of godly relationships and good friends
- the will of God for their lives to be made known
- help during difficult times
- special protection during their teenage years
Making an intentional effort to pray for your children will also show them how to pray for themselves, and that is a precious gift that will be passed down for generations. Powerful things happen when we prioritize praying for our children and it’s something that shouldn’t be neglected.
I once heard a pastor explain prayer in terms of a harvest of righteousness. Scripture tells us that the prayers of the righteous avail much.
Whether we’re praying for our little children or our wayward child, the steadfast love and Word of our Lord God is faithful.
Final Thoughts
One of the best things for families today is to have a prayer warrior and that can start with the parents. The lives of our children depend on parents showing them how to live the lifestyle of a biblical Christian. It’s much more than just saying you’re a Christian and more about showing them.
Start with simple prayers, use powerful scriptures, and lean not on your own understanding when praying for your children. As you pray, always know the power of God will show up and work wonders when you least expect it.
How do you currently pray for your children? Share some of your ways in the comments below. The more ideas we have to share the better!