Do you pray for your child? Praying can sometimes seem like a difficult task. How do you pray for your children’s blessings? What is the best prayer for kids? How do you praise God in prayer for kids? How do you pray a simple prayer? How do you pray for your future children?
The questions that we have about how we should pray can make praying a daunting task. So let’s talk about how we should be praying for our children.
What Does the Bible Say About Praying for Your Children?
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A quick search for “what does God say about praying for your children” may not return the results you’re expecting. There are no verses to say, here’s how you should pray for your child, and here are the specific things you should say. What you will find instead are examples of parents who prayed and concepts that you can use to guide your prayers.
Prayer is a theme that runs throughout the Bible and as parents, we can learn how to pray for our children by following the examples of those who went before us. Here are eight examples you can use when praying for your children:
1. Job sanctified his children and offered sacrifices on their behalf. His justification was that maybe his children had sinned and cursed God in their hearts (Job 1:5). To sanctify something is to set is aside for holy use. Job reminds us that we can dedicate our children to God (and we can do it long after they are babies).
2. Hannah prayed for a child and when she gave birth to Samuel, she continued to pray for him (research the apron aka prayed shawl)
3. David prayed for his son’s faithfulness in following God (1 Chronicles 29:10-19). You can pray for your child’s faith. Pray that they will serve God with their whole heart and that they will delight to do His will.
4. Healing. There are several examples in the Bible of parents praying for the healing of a child: a woman prayed for the healing of her daughter ( Matthew 15:22-27); a man for the healing of his son (Matthew 17:15-16); a nobleman prayed for the healing of his child (John 4:49)
5. We can pray that our children will have boldness to speak the Word of God using the disciples’ prayer for boldness and power in Acts 4:24-30 as a model.
6. We can pray for instruction for our children (Acts 9:5-6).
7. We can pray for the spouse of our children (Genesis 24:12-14)
8. You can express gratitude to God for your child. Hannah to express gratitude for answered prayer after the birth of her son (1 Samuel 2:1-10). We can do the same and this prayer is one we can pray for our children long after they have grown up.
Scriptures to Pray Over Your Children
As a Christian parent, you should be speaking blessings over your child. This is important because there are so many snares out there for our children we need to do everything we can to protect them and build them up.
But how do you bless a child? How do you pray for your children’s blessings?
The best thing we can do is pray Scripture over our children. God’s Word is powerful and is capable of accomplishing great things. Here are some Scriptures you can pray over your children. I have included an example of how the Scriptures may be used to pray for your child:
Prayers to Pray for Your Children: Protection & safety
One of the greatest desires of parents is for their children to be safe. Too often the news reports stories of children who are killed or hurt within the perimeters of the place that we send them to get an education. The world is a dangerous place and so we cover our children under the blood of Jesus.
Lord, I pray that when ___________ passes through the waters of trials, that you will be with him. When __________ goes through the rivers of destruction, they will not overflow him. I pray that you will protect ___________ through the fire so that he is not burned neither shall the flames scorch him (Isaiah 43:2)
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Yahweh, I know that you’re the rock, the mighty fortress, and the great deliverer. My God my strength, in you I trust, be __________ shield and the horn of her salvation, her stronghold. (Psalm 18:2)
Today ___________ is on the verge of battle with the enemy. Do not let his heart faint. Do not let him be terrified because of them because I know that you O Lord goes with ___________ to fight for him against the enemy. I know you will save him. (Deuteronomy 20:3-4)
Father, I pray that you’ll protect my child. There are many who would try to hurt him but I’m claiming Your promise that no weapon formed against him will prosper. (Isaiah 54:17)
Other Scriptures that can for modified for use as prayers for protection are:
- But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. 2 Thessalonians 3:3 ESV
- The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. (Psalm 121:7-8)
Prayers to Pray for Your Children: Knowledge & discernment
The obvious reason why we send our children to school is for them to get an education. We, therefore, want them to learn all that they can learn so that they can be all they can be.
As much as we would love to teach them solely from the Bible, unless we are independently wealthy, own a business or a farm, at some point our children are going to need the skillsets to get a job.
So we pray first for knowledge – that they will be able to understand what is taught and apply it at all times. Then we pray for discernment – that they will display good judgment wherever they may be.
Lord, I pray that ___________ will seek for knowledge and wisdom as though looking for hidden treasures. I know that wisdom comes from you Lord and so I claim it for ___________ in Jesus’s name. (Proverbs 2:4)
Jehovah, I put __________ in your hands. I pray that you will help her to apply her heart to instruction and her ears to correction. (Proverbs 23:12)
Prayers for Your Children: Diligence
Every parent knows that you don’t maintain good grades unless you work diligently at it (unless of course, you’re naturally gifted). So we pray for our children to be meticulous and industrious in everything that they do. A favorite talk of Jamaican parents is: “Study your books so that you can have a better life than I do.”
Dear Lord, please help _____________ to work diligently at whatever task he is given. Not everything will come naturally to him but I ask that you grant him perseverance (Ecclesiastes 9:10).
Prayers to Pray for Your Children: Courage & self-control
Let’s face it: school can be a scary place. It’s the place where your little angel goes and comes home with habits that he didn’t have before, using words that you’ve never used. They are exposed to a lot of different influences and peer pressure is a real thing.
As Christians, our values don’t conform to the world and the person who is different will be pressured to change. And that’s where the courage comes in. Our children will have to be brave enough to stand up for the lessons taught at home. They will have to be brave enough to stand up for Jesus.
They’re also going to need a big dose of self-control because they’re going to have to learn how to pick their battles. Some things have to be fought for, but some things… they have to let it go. Winning a fight sometimes means walking away and that takes a lot of courage and a lot of self-control. One of the biggest things they’re going to have to learn to control is their tongue.
Related: The Battle Is Not Yours
Jehovah, I know that you did not give us a spirit of fear but one of power and of love and self-control. Let this spirit be in ____________. Help her to walk boldly into the place that you have prepared for her.
Pray for your children’s success & purpose
As parents, we all want our children to succeed and to live their lives on purpose for a purpose. We were all created for a purpose but sometimes we lose sight of that, especially as children. We want our children to know that God made them extra-special and that when they walk with God the sky’s the limit on what they can accomplish.
We want our children to believe these things but the enemy doesn’t want our children to know that they are special and set apart by an awesome God… so that’s exactly why we need to pray for this truth to be manifest in their lives.
Dear Jesus, please help ___________ to know that he was fearfully and wonderfully made. Reveal to him the purpose that he was created for and keep him in the center of your will so that he can accomplish it (Psalm 139:13-14).
Father, I pray that ______________ will choose to delight herself in you. I pray that You will grant her the desires of her heart so that she can flourish and be successful according to your will. (Psalm 37:4)
Adonai, I pray for Your favor our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands! (Psalm 90:17 ESV)
Prayers for your children’s health
In the Bible, physical health and forgiveness of sins are often intertwined. As you pray for your child to be healed physically, always remember that the underlying sickness is sin.
Father, we know all our benefits come from you. It is You who heals our diseases and redeems is from sin. You have crowned us with Your steadfast love and mercy. I pray that You will heal my child. Forgive ___________ of all her sin. Show her Your love and mercy, in Jesus’s name, Amen. (Psalm 103:2-4)
Lord, I pray that all may go well with _______ and that _______ may be in good health. I pray that it goes well with his soul. (3 John 1:2)
Prayers for your children’s salvation
Dear Lord, You sent Your Son to save us from our sins. I pray that my child will confess Jesus as Lord and accept Him as Savior (Romans 10:9).
Abba, I place _______________ in Your hands. I pray that sin will not have dominion over him and that he will remember that it is through Your grace that he has been saved. (Romans 6:14)
There is a myriad of other things that we can and should pray for our children but I hope that these five things gave you a direction in which to start. As parents, it’s important to remember that we have to ensure that our children are equipped with knowledge that will help them to overcome ignorance.
As Christian parents we can never lose sight of the fact that the battle is not only physical – it’s spiritual as well. We have to put on the whole armor of God and ensure that our children are likewise equipped so that we can withstand the wiles of the devil.
Prayer is putting our requests before God knowing that ultimately it is His will that will be done. How do you pray for your children?
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