Praying for Our Children

Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift your hands toward Him for the life of your young children. Lamentations 2:19

What is prayer and why should we pray?

First, prayer is more than giving our list of wants and needs to God. It should not be a whining session or pity party. Prayer is acknowledging and experiencing the presence of God and inviting him into our lives. When we pray we are saying to God, “I need you. I can’t do this without you.”

Doesn’t God already know everything? Why should we pray for God to bring our children to early salvation or to protect them? Does it really make a difference? I think it makes a huge difference. I believe there are many reasons that we ought to pray. Jesus prayed. If he felt it was important to talk to God why shouldn’t we? Stormie Omartian said this about praying.

“God has so much to speak into your life. But if you don’t draw apart from the busyness of your day and spend time alone with Him in quietness and solitude, you will not hear it. Jesus Himself spent time alone with God. If anyone could get away with not doing it, surely it would have been Him. How much more important must it be for us.” -

Stormie Omartian, The Power of a Praying Wife.

That brings me to the next reason. Prayer is how we communicate with God and he has a lot he wants to say to us. Many times it is during our pauses of prayer for others that He speaks to us. We may be praying for our child to be honest while God may bring to mind a time when we were not honest and we need to repent. Another reason to pray for our children is because we cannot raise them alone. We need God’s guidance and wisdom. Through praying for our children we remind ourselves that they belong to God. Moments after each of our children were born, Scott & I prayed together, dedicating our precious blessing to the Lord and asking Him for guidance and wisdom in raising them. We tend to try and take them back as we try to handle their foolish ways ourselves. We should depend on God to give us what we need to raise our children.

And lastly, I don’t believe that prayer changes God, but I do know that it can change us. I have personally experienced a change of heart for someone just by praying for them. If you are dealing with a difficult or challenging child, pray for them. It will do at least 2 things. First, you remain aware of any positive changes you may see in the child’s behavior. You will see it when they begin to choose right over wrong. Second, you will develop a deeper love and understanding for that child that you didn’t have before. I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to truly like a child that you have been at odds with for so long.

Praying for your children will be a life changing experience for you first of all and then your children also.

One of my many projects that I have started was to write 52 prayers to pray for your children using scripture. For January my topic of prayer is -Knowing Christ early & having a hunger for his word. Here is my first prayer that I am praying for my children. You can join me in this if you wish.

John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy; I have come that they might have life and have it to the full."

Father, I come before you knowing how eager the enemy is to attack my children. I pray that they might come to know you early in their life. I pray that they might hide your word in their heart and will hunger for your wisdom so they might experience your abundant life. Help me as their mother to lead them towards you and that I might sow seeds of desire for you. A~men