Praying for our children comes pretty naturally for most of us. We love our children and want the absolute best for them in every circumstance. If weâre not careful, however, we may find ourselves habitually praying for the same few concerns while neglecting some weightier matters.
We often pray for our childrenâs protection and safety. We pray for healing when theyâre sick. And we pray for them to come to a saving faith in Jesus. Yes, their physical needs are important and obviously their decision to follow or reject Christ is of utmost importance, but what about everything in between? Are we faithfully praying for those things too?
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How Do You Pray For Your Child?
Iâm sometimes guilty (more often than Iâd like to admit) of praying for my children only after all of my own efforts have failed. I come to Him as a last resort instead of truly believing Him to be the all-powerful God of the universe capable of acting on my behalf.
I limit God.
And Iâm afraid I already know the answer as to why. I become busy, distracted, and shift my focus away from my Savior and onto my problems. And then I become overwhelmed by the burdens that I place upon myself that I was never meant to carry.
If you’re wondering how to pray for your child please remember that God is a good Father. If we, as imperfect parents living in a fallen world, desire the absolute best for our children how much more so does our perfectly holy, just, and loving Heavenly Father desire that for them ? (Matthew 7:11 ESV)
Nothing is too small or too big to be in prayer for when it comes to raising them. We just need to keep in mind that what we think is best and what God knows is best are often entirely different things. Those trials and hardships can grow their faith and character just like those difficult seasons can grow ours.
Why Should We Pray For Our Kids?
So why exactly should we pray for our kids? To answer this question I think we should first take a step back and realize that much of life is completely out of our control, but entirely in the hands of our Creator. Yes, it is true that God already knows what our children need, but it is also true that our faith is strengthened when weâre faithful to spend time in prayer and studying Godâs Word.
Prayer is powerful!
We should never underestimate the importance of falling on our knees before the Maker of the universe to plea for the children He has entrusted into our care. God hears those prayers and can use our faithful pursuit of Him to provide us with wisdom, peace, and direction as parents as well as to comfort, encourage, protect, and guide our children.
Parenting has a way of revealing our limitations and forcing us to either work harder, give up, OR lay it all down at Jesusâ feet. It is vitally important that we are faithful to pray for wisdom in raising our children and faithful to pray for these sweet blessings that God has given us. We can rest in knowing that He hears our prayers. And He will act according to His will and in His perfect timing.
Related:10 THINGS A BOY NEEDS FROM HIS MOM
12 Ways To Pray For Your Child
Our children are unique and have many different needs, but there are specific areas that every parent can be in prayer for. We can pray for our children toâŚ
1. Have a Tender Conscience
Our kids (just like us) are bombarded with negative influences attempting to lead them astray on a near daily basis. God gave us a conscience, as a compass per se, to guide our steps in the right direction. Our conscience is easily seared, however, when we repeatedly harden our hearts in our desire to be the god of our own life.
Pray for your children to have a tender conscience towards sin. Pray that those red flags would prick their hearts and steer them away from falling into sin. Pray that when they do slip they will quickly repent and seek to restore a right relationship with their Creator.
2. Have a Servantâs Heart
The culture around us is screaming that the world revolves around us. And to our sinful flesh this sounds like pretty wonderful news. Until we realize that it was never meant to be all about us, and we will never find true satisfaction elevating ourselves.
We were created to serve! God, in His wisdom, knew that putting others before ourselves is what brings about a genuine peace and joy. Our hearts canât help but fill up with gratitude as we seek to serve those around us. Look for opportunities to serve together as a family and pray for your child to witness firsthand the beauty and blessings of humbly serving others.
3. Develop Godly Friendships
âBad company corrupts good characterâ (1 Corinthians 15:33). Youâve most likely heard this verse dozens of times throughout your life, but do you realize the importance these 5 little words play in the lives of your children?
If the friends that your child is spending the most time around are not leading them closer to Jesus, they are leading them away from Him. There is no middle ground.
Please pray for your children to develop godly friendships that will build them up and encourage them in their faith and vice versa. And donât be afraid to put your foot down (with grace of course) if their current friendships are leading them astray. You are the parent and it is your job to protect your children, not to please them. Those we spend the most time around truly do have an amazing amount of influence over our lives.
4. Stand Firm in Their Convictions
It takes a great amount of strength and backbone to stand up for what is right in our ever wavering, âtolerantâ society. Pray that God will use your children to be a leader in their sphere of influence and stand firm in their convictions even when it means standing completely alone.
Taking a stand for truth, in a courageous and grace filled manor, is a rarity that will be noticed. And God can use it all for His glory.
5. Seek Wisdom in the Decisions They Make
Children typically lack discernment. This is for two reasons. #1 Theyâre still growing developmentally and learning about the world around them. #2 Their immaturity often results in responding before thoroughly thinking through their actions.
Pray for your child to swim against the current on this one and seek wise counsel (not that of their peers who are often struggling with similar issues) before making decisions- whether they be big or small. And ultimately pray that they will learn to go straight to the Lord in prayer and study His Word for the answers theyâre seeking. Many of the decisions we make in our youth have life-long consequences. So much hurt can be avoided by simply seeking wise counsel.
6. Guard Their Hearts
The phrase âfollow your heartâ is quite popular in todayâs culture. And although it may sound enticing, it will more often than not lead us down a painful road. Our children are still developing emotionally and intellectually and cannot always decipher truth from deception. It is our job to faithfully teach them, lead them, and pray for them to âkeep their hearts with all diligenceâ (Proverbs 4:23).
Obviously God created our emotions which canbe a healthy response to our circumstances. BUT, they are never meant to be LED with. Our hearts are deceitful and we must guard them at all costs.
Guard them from the enemy who desperately wants to destroy us.
Guard them from our own sinful desires.
And guard them from the lures of the world around us.
7. Desire a Strong Relationship With Their Parents
Itâs no surprise that our children need strong role models in their lives. And I think itâs safe to say this is true now more than ever before. For the majority of their formative years children are magnets who flock to those who make them feel noticed and valued.
Peer friendships have their place and can be a tremendous blessing, but I think that we all too often forget that Godâs original design was actually for us parents to have the greatest amount of influence over our children.
Who better to be in this role than those who love them more than any other person on the entire planet and have learned a thing or two about the way the world works? Yes, we need to continually guide, instruct, and discipline our children but this should never prevent us from developing solid relationships and friendships with our children too.
Please seek to develop a strong relationship with each of your children and pray that they will be receptive. Go out of your way to make certain they know just how much you love them. Spend time with them doing things that they enjoy. Make them laugh. Have some deep discussions together. Lay aside your distractions and busy schedules and be a parent first.
8. View Your Home as a Safe Haven From The Harsh Realities of the World
As a mom, I pray for my children (no matter how old they get) to always cherish their time at home. To find solitude, comfort, and rest from the often not so peaceful world around us. As theyâre surrounded by the people who love them most, I pray that they will truly delight to be together as a family and be encouraged by our words and actions. That we may âstir up one another to love and good worksâ (Hebrews 10:24). Iâd encourage you to pray for your children to find comfort in your home, not strife, distractions, and emptiness.
Fill up their tank with love.
Edifying words.
Gentleness.
And point them to their Savior.
9. Come To A Saving Faith In Jesus
Multiple studies have shown that an alarmingly high percentage of teenagers walk away from the faith as soon as they leave home. I sincerely believe the most probable explanation for this is because they never truly had a genuine relationship with Christ in the first place.
They may believe in God and that Jesus died for their sins. They may have good morals and happily attend youth group. They may even have some Bible verses memorized. However, itâs not until we truly grasp the wickedness of our sin, that we can understand the beauty of the sacrifice that was made on our behalf.
Only then will our hearts be genuinely repentant and transformed by the love of Christ. And only then will we see the fruit of that repentance and a desire to live life for our Savior instead of for ourselves. Pray for your child to fully understand the wickedness of his sin and desperate need for a Savior.
10. Put God First
With constant noise and distractions consuming us, it is not natural for us to put God first. In fact, itâs imperative that weâre continually seeking to stay close to Him, or He will most likely be last. As a busy mom, I sometimes catch myself giving God my leftovers and wondering why Iâm overwhelmed with life.
It truly is amazing how weâre given a fresh perspective when we make the decision to put Him first. Please model this for your children. They have a front row view of our lives and see the times we allow ourselves to become anxious, fearful, irritable, frustrated, bitter, and discouraged.
What if instead they saw a mom who still had peace as the trials arose? Who clung to hope when life wasnât going in the direction she had planned? Whose gaze was so fixed upon her Savior that she rarely dwelled upon her own problems, and graciously served others instead? Pray for your children to put God first in their lives. Pray that they will see this example in you.
11. Boldly and Compassionately Share Their Faith
Our children are given so many mixed messages in our day and age. Even by the church. Theyâre told that Itâs okay to show kindness to others and think Jesus is âcoolâ as long as they donât actually hold to the belief that Jesus is the way, and the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6).
Our children are encouraged to believe that we all have our own âtruthâ and that we should never share our âtruthâ with others and possibly offend someone.
However, the reality is that there will ever only always be ONE truth. And we donât get to define it.
That role is reserved for our Creator. Please encourage your children to lovingly share the gospel with the world around them. Encourage them to share that we are all sinners in desperate need of a Savior. And about the Man who came to earth for the sole purpose of dying the death that we shouldâve died to offer us an amazing gift of grace.
12. Pray For Your Child’s Future Spouse
You might think itâs a bit early to begin praying for your childâs future spouse if theyâre still in diapers or elementary school, but itâs never to soon to pray for major life decisions your child will face. Apart from their decision to follow or reject Christ I firmly believe that who our children marry is of next importance.
Pray for your child to have wisdom in finding a best friend to do life with. Pray for them to not be unequally yoked, but to find someone who whole heartedly loves Jesus and desires to honor Him with their life. Pray for your childâs future spouse to cherish them and put their needs before their own and for your child to do the same. Pray that together they will be godly parents who desire to raise up the next generation to honor and love their Creator. And pray that their marriage would be a light in a dark world to point others to Christ.
Pray For Your Child and Be an Example
Not only should we be praying for our children we should also be praying with our children, and sharing with them Godâs faithful answers to prayer in our own life. Obviously we can never force our faith upon our children, nor should we want to. It would cease to be a genuine love for God if that was the case.
But we can share of His goodness with them throughout the day.
Instruct them according to His Word.
Love them like Jesus.
Point them to Him.
And earnestly pray for them.
God hears those prayers, sweet friend. Stay the course and faithfully pray.
Shondolyn Richardson says
This is really helpful, Tabatha! Thank you SO much for sharing these different ways to pray for our children. Even though I pray for a few of the things that you mentioned, I certainly found some NEW things to pray for. So, thanks again!
Tabatha says
I’m so grateful that it was a help to you, Shondolyn! Our children are such a blessing and God is so good <3 Thank you so much for stopping by and for your kind comment!