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Have you ever thought, “Nothing I do works with this kid. I don’t know what to do anymore.” Are you praying for your children? If so, what prayers are you praying for your kids? What kinds of prayers are you praying?
I find that moms are just thinking about their kids, but not actively praying for them or with them. Or they’re only praying for help themselves instead of praying for their kid. I’m not saying you shouldn’t ask the Lord for help, but you’re not the only one struggling here.
BUT we can pray for these things! We can pray for the desire to pray for them, but to also see those moments when we need to pray.
TYPES OF PRAYERS
There are all kinds of prayers found in the Bible:
- Prayers of Worship
- Prayers of Thanksgiving
- Prayers of Faith
- Prayers of Confession & Repentance
- Prayers of Intercession
- Prayer of Consecration
These are just a few of the types of prayers we see throughout scripture and we are meant to utilize them by praying for others and our children.
The prayers I pray for my children are many. Most of the types of prayers I pray are intercessory. If you’re unfamiliar or new to the word, intercession, it simply means: the action of intervening on behalf of one another.
I’m not saying all of these things to boast in my prayer life, but to give you options and ideas of what to pray for your kids.
WHEN TO PRAY FOR CHILDREN
But when should I pray for my kids? Should I pray while I’m folding laundry? Pray while cooking dinner while also simultaneously holding a cranky baby? Yes.
We are called to pray without ceasing and most of the time, I’m praying for them as I go. This is not the only time we pray for them, but we can get caught up in our day and forget to pray for them.
Last year, I created a weekly prayer chart. Everyday I pray for my kids, but the prayer is different everyday. This way, I pray specific prayers for my kids at a certain time. I started doing this in the mornings and it really helped me to see my children rightfully before they even woke up. Donald Whitney’s book, Praying the Bible, really help me to know how to pray for my kids in this way!
Having time in prayer helps me give more proper attention when praying for them, so I do encourage you to set aside time in prayer. And I pray for them all through the day: before they wake up, while they’re in my midst, and after they’re in bed.
Another time I enjoy praying for them is when I put our youngest girl down for bed. At the time I’m writing this, she still drinks a bottle before bedtime and she loves to snuggle and take her time. This gives me about a solid 20-30 minutes of prayer. Occasionally I’ll drift off to sleep, but usually I’m praying and I love this time.
Prayer for salvation
I pray this prayer for them everyday. I’m not saying this to boast in my prayer life, but to say, “Salvation belongs to the Lord”. No matter how much we pray, teach them about God, show them the Gospel in every part of life, the gift of faith is from God alone.
Each evening, as I’m sitting feeding our youngest, I’m praying the Lord would open their eyes to their sin. I wanted to write a prayer for you that is specifically for salvation and this is a similar prayer I pray for them every night.
Prayer:
“Father, thank you for the children you’ve put into my care. I know you have placed them in my home for specific reasons.
Lord, I pray that you will save them. Make their dead bones come to life. Pull them out of the mud and the mire and set their feet on solid ground. I know that salvation belongs to you alone. There is nothing from myself or my hands that can save them.
Father, let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Help me to wait on you with patience and to trust you with contentment. You love my children more than me. You know what is best for them at all times. Thank you for your steadfast love and faithfulness. Amen.”
Prayers of remembrance
This is a prayer I usually pray during the day while I’m with the kids. My heart behind this prayer is that they will remember the moments of forgiveness, the moments of the Gospel presentation, the moments where we pray with them, and the moments where there’s joy.
I have to remember sometimes, that this doesn’t mean that I want them to forget hard moments, but I pray the Holy Spirit will hold all these moments together for them.
This reminds me of when God made the Israelites remember with memorials and piling stones in certain spots so that they would be reminded of God’s faithfulness. It’s just like when He constantly reminds them of how He brought them up out of the land of Egypt.
That’s what I want! I want them to remember the Lord and how He provided and how sweet He is to give to us abundantly in all things.
Prayer:
“Father, thank you for giving me Yourself. Thank you for kindly and lovingly reminding me of Your faithfulness. You are the One I want my children to remember.
Please mark moments in their minds of how much You love them. Help them to see how much You care for them through any means possible. I pray that they would remember Your faithfulness in our home and how you are the ultimate Provider of all our needs.
Father, I know that You will do as You will. Thank You for Your sovereignty and the work that you will do in their lives. You are the true El Roi, the God who Sees. Amen.”
Prayers of worship
During the worship service at our church, we have people who raise their hands in worship and occasionally, my husband and I will raise our hands in worship. Sometimes, I’ll look over and see one of my girls with their hands raised and it makes me smile. They have no idea what they’re doing, but I’m hoping that worshiping the Lord becomes attractive to them.
You wouldn’t think of worship as a typical prayer to pray for children, but as I was thinking of this, we do pray for our children to worship God. We pray prayers like this:
- Lord, just help them to not be jealous (worship of an item/person)
- Lord, please help them to trust me (worship of others)
- Lord, help them obey (worship of themselves)
It sounds like these typical prayers we pray have an underlying goal. We want them to properly worship who they were made to worship. Not themselves, not toys/items, or others, but God alone.
Prayer:
“Father, thank you for giving me this job to help my kids worship You. Thank you for showing me that You are worthy of all worship and adoration. I am made to worship You alone.
Lord, please help me to show my kids that worshiping You is a gift. Help me to show them that worshiping You is not only satisfying to the soul, but a means to glorify you. You know their little hearts and what they worship, please draw them near to you.
Father, you are the only One who can draw me into fellowship and worship You. All things were made through You and for You. Thank you for making us in Your image and satisfying our need to worship with Christ.
Prayers of obedience
This actually is a prayer that I pray with them! Sometimes, if the days are tough, I’ll sit with them and pray. I’m sure you can relate here, there’s a strong willed toddler who will only do what they want to do and won’t listen to your authority whatsoever. This is your moment to pray with them for obedience. If you check out my post about Teaching Kids to Pray , you can see how we teach them to pray too!
My husband and I also pray this prayer together. Some seasons are harder than others and the kids are overall harder to parent. This is when we come together and pray for their obedience too.
We have to be careful here, friend. We don’t want to pray for obedience because it would make things easier for us, but we want them to obey because
- God tells them to
- It teaches them how God made us to submit to authority
This isn’t simply a demand of obedience because it makes our lives easier. We pray for their obedience so that they can know God and how He loves them.
Prayer:
“Father, thank you for loving me and giving me your commands to obey. Thank you for giving me Jesus so that I can joyfully obey without the pressure of perfection. I know You have given me my children so that I can obey you by discipling them.
Lord, please help my children to obey. Help them to not only obey me and my husband, but to obey You because of Your great love for them. I know you love obedience to Your commands, I pray that you will help them to glorify You through obedience.
Thank you for giving me Your commandments so that I can love and honor You. Thank you for Jesus obeying all of Your commands perfectly so that I can spend eternity with You. Amen.”
FINAL EXHORTATION
Friend, I want to encourage you with this. You won’t see a need to pray for your children until you are in a place where you need to pray for your children. Does that make sense? If everyone is generally okay, listening to you, and playing well together, then you might not feel like you need to be this aggressive with prayer.
I do pray that you would have the need to pray. That your days would come to points where you stop and pray not only for patience and self-control for yourself, but pray for those sweet babies who don’t know the Lord.