Prayer. Add it to the list of things I feel guilty about as a mom right below never wanting to do crafts with my kiddos and being too cutthroat during games of Candyland with my four-year-old.
I know that I am supposed to be praying for my kids. In fact, I am fond of saying that as a mom prayer is my primary work. I mean that. I do. But sometimes I just don’t know what to pray.
I mean, I start to pray for protection and then I realize I don’t want them to crave safety. I want them to take risks for Jesus but not risks that land them in the ER. How do I pray about that?
I start to pray for their mate’s but then I realize they may not marry. I hope they do (I’ve always thought skipping parenting and going right to grandparenting is where it is at). But I want them to be open to God’s plan in this area. Another stumper.
And I really, really want to pray that they live with me forever and always hold my hand and never roll their eyes. But I predict that at some point I will want to pray that they move out and stop holding my hand so I can get a manicure. As for the no eye rolling, I’m not sure my faith is big enough for that one.
So, how then shall we pray as mommas? Here are a few ideas.
Pray a Life Verse
I’m a big believer in praying God’s Word. In fact, I wrote a whole post on choosing a life verse for your child and praying it often over the course of his/her life. If you’re short on time, here’s the mini version: choose a verse that specifically applies to your child (ask for direction from God) and then pray that verse often. I have one friend who had her children’s life verses painted by an artist and she hung them over their beds. If you are less crafty (like me!) simply write them on a note card and put them in your child’s room.
Pray Scriptures
In addition, here are some other prayers adapted from Bible verses to pray for your kiddos:
Store up your word in ______’s heart, that he/she might not sin against you (Ps. 119:11).
Help _______ to receive wisdom and treasure your commandments. Make him/her attentive to wisdom and drawn to understanding (Prov. 2:1-2).
Teach ________ to rely on the joy of the Lord for strength (Neh. 8:10).
Help ________ to know that you have plans for him/her and that those plans are to help them prosper. Show him/her how to rely on that when the future is uncertain (Jer. 29:11).
I also love this PDF of prayers to pray for your children from iMOM. It’s practical and biblical.
Pray Routine Prayers
My husband and I wanted meaningful bedtime prayers. So, we thought through what we wanted to pray and we wrote it down. We pray the same prayers for our kiddos every night. Yes, it is routine, but kids thrive in routine. Here is what we pray:
For Eli (4): Eli we pray that you will remember that your life was marked before you were born and you were healed for a purpose. May God bless you richly and give you mercy.
For Noble (2): Noble we pray that the gentle and quiet spirit God has given you since birth would be a tool to draw others to you. May the joy of the Lord always be your strength.
Davis children: May you be like iron sharpening iron, spurring each other on toward righteousness and good deeds. May you always feel like you belong because you have each other.
Pray Without Ceasing
1 Thessalonians 5:17
simply says, “pray without ceasing.” Worry less about what to pray and just start praying. Pray all day long for your kiddos. Big prayers about big things. Little prayers about little things.
Ditch the guilt or the worry about not praying enough or correctly and just start a conversation with your Heavenly Father about your needs and your children’s needs.
I’d love to hear about any tools you use to pray for your kids. In fact, we’ll give away free CDs of Nancy’s interview with Fern Nichols and Marlae Gritter on how to pray for you children to three of you who will leave us a comment this week on how you pray for your kiddos.
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