As parents we have a lifelong calling to pray for our children, from babyhood to adulthood, and forever more. We will always pray for our children although the situations and circumstances will change as they grow. For this ministry, there are three simple practical tips and some Scriptures to pray over your children. Scripture-guided prayers are a powerful way to pray as we declare the truth of God’s word over our lives.
Praying For Our Children – 3 Practical Tips!
1. Pray Specifically
Our relationship with the Lord is a place of safety, where we can share our innermost thoughts. As we are praying for our children, we can confide in God for their specific needs. There is nothing hidden from His sight and we can bring our hopes and fears to Him. But as we pray for their needs, we surrender the solution, or the answer, for that need to God. There is a release if we are willing to trust our children to God in prayer.
Using Scriptures to pray over your children is a way of focusing on their spiritual needs as well as their practical requests. Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the ‘doing’ prayers for God to supply and make a way, through life for our children. But using God’s word and praying Scriptures over their lives become ‘being’ prayers. This is praying God’s will, for our children to become who He created them to be! Then praying for our children becomes a blessing as we see God’s hand at work, not only in their circumstances but within their lives.
2. Prayer Journal
I would encourage anyone to keep a prayer journal. Writing down our thoughts, and feelings, helps to focus our prayers. We can also record the response to those individual prayers, and how they were answered. This is powerful in building and strengthening our faith to pray from a position of praise and thanksgiving, with expectancy in the goodness of God.
Prayers are answered, and the needs of our children change, but there will always be new circumstances to pray over! We are all a work in progress and on a lifelong journey of faith and spiritual growth. Our journal can be a simple notebook or become something more elaborate with photos or other visual prompts.
3. Power In Praying Together
Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount to pray ‘in secret,’ privately, as a response to those who prayed publicly for the wrong reasons. Those who stood up and prayed long and elaborate prayers in the synagogue, or even on street corners, just to enhance their reputation in the community. We know that Jesus often spent time alone in prayer with the Father, but He also prayed with His disciples. Jesus had an inner circle, those who were closest to Him, and He looked for their prayer support in His time of need.
There is power in united prayer, in agreement in prayer with others. Our first choice is to pray with our partner, the co-parent of our children, and strengthen the family unity. But that is not always possible. If we have the support of a regular prayer meeting, there may be times to share our requests with our church family. It can also be helpful to find another prayer partner that we can trust. This always needs to be done with wisdom, and mutual commitment to pray for each other…
These three simple practical tips can help to develop spiritual discipline in prayer with commitment and accountability. This builds our faith, with remembrance and thanksgiving, to persevere and not give up the privilege of this ministry. Related Post: Parables About Persistence In Prayer!
10 Scriptures To Pray Over Your Children
Using Scripture to guide our prayers is powerful, as we declare the truth of God’s word. There are many Scriptures to pray over your children that reveal the heart of God. Using these words helps to remind us of His will and, in doing so, strengthens our faith.
The first five Scriptures I’ve selected are suitable for praying over children of all ages. The second five Scriptures to pray over your children are more aimed at older, or adult, children. Some of those words will particularly resonate with those of us who are praying for prodigals, those who have drifted or wandered away from faith. Scroll to the end of the post for a free printable of these Scriptures and prayers to download!
Scriptures To Pray Over Your Children – Of All Ages!
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26 Lord, I pray Your blessing on ____________ that Your face may shine on him/her with grace and favor, and that You will turn to him/her and give him/her peace. Amen.
Related Post: Powerful Prayers In The Bible!
“Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they will be saved.” Romans 10:1 Dear Lord, my heart’s desire and prayer, is for ________________ that he/she may be saved. Amen.
“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32 I pray that _________ will hold to your teaching Lord, that he/she will know the truth, and the truth will set him/her free. Amen.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 Lord, I pray that ___________ will trust You with all his/her heart and not rely on his/her own understanding. Help him/her to submit to You and that You will make his/her paths straight. Amen.
“being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 I pray that You, Lord, who began a good work in ___________ will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Amen.
Scriptures To Pray Over Your Children – For Prodigals!
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10 Lord, You came to seek and save the lost, I pray that ______ will be found by You. Amen.
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” Ephesians 3:16-17a Lord, I pray You will strengthen ______ within, by Your Spirit, that You may dwell in his/her heart through faith. Amen.
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:17b-19 Dear Lord, I pray that ______ will be rooted and established in Your love. And ______ will grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge. Also that he/she will be filled with the measure of all of the fullness of God’s love. Amen.
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people.” Ephesians 1:18 I pray that the eyes of ______ heart may be enlightened in order that he/she may know the hope to which You have called him/her, his/her inheritance in You. Amen.
“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” Psalm 34:8 I pray that ______ would see your goodness and know the blessing of a safe place in You. Amen
Prayer Resources
Download these free printable prayer cards of Scriptures to pray over your children HERE!
Check out this prayer journal, which includes twelve Biblical prayers to inspire our prayer lives. Available on Amazon US & UK.
Very encouraging and helpful post! I love your prayer tips!
Thank you. I have a son, newly relocated 22 hours away. Tomorrow is his birthday. I miss him horribly and all week long the enemy has been planting worries over him in my thoughts. Thank you for reminding God is working in his life and is with him.
This is powerful – and I can’t get Marlene’s story out of my head!
Thank you for this.
Thank you Debbie – it stayed with me too, because we want to be the one to make things ‘better.’ With my own anxiety it was, and maybe still is, an ongoing lesson to keep releasing and giving to God. Blessings to you!
This is powerful – and I can’t get Marlene’s story out of my head!
Thank you for this!
Beautiful post.. I have 3 adult children..my prayer for them continues.Thnx for all the tips