Let's not get in the rut of praying, "Lord bless _____ ." Specific prayer brings specific results! So how should we pray for our children?
1. Pray for them spiritually. Of course the very most important decision they will ever make is to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. Pray that after they have accepted Him that they will live a life serving Him. Pray that they will have a ministry to serve in and that they will love it and give it their all. Pray that they will have a personal relationship with the Lord. I don't want my kids to just serve MY God, I want Him to be THEIR God, too. Pray that they will seek Him daily through His Word and that they will have a powerful prayer life. Pray for their faith to grow.
2. Pray for their relationships. As your children go through life they will meet many people. They will have friendships and broken hearts. Pray for them to have compassion and wisdom in their relationships. Pray for their relationships with their family members. Children are children. They will argue and want to be selfish. Pray that they will have a love for their siblings that far surpasses the pride of an argument. Pray for them to have the right relationship with you as a Momma. And especially with their Father. Everyday I grow more and more convinced of my role as a Momma to point my children to their Dad. They need to respect him and love him and my influence is so powerful in this area! Pray for them to want to go to their Dad with concerns, ideas and just to talk. It's such a wonderful training ground for how to seek their heavenly Father in the future.
Pray for their friendships. Friends are powerful influencers.
As I did nursery Sunday night, I watched Liberty follow around another little girl and do everything she did. She wanted to be just like her. As kids grow older that often never changes, so make sure their friendships are with others that will encourage and help them to grow closer to the Lord. Oftentimes while my older three were growing up they didn't have tons of friends. At times this was hard for them. But, it was these times that the Lord was protecting them. He was keeping them from developing friendships with those that would tear them down. It's amazing how during those times our family grew closer with one another.
Pray for their future relationships. As soon as we found out we were expecting our little ones, we began praying for their future spouse. As Patrick prayed during the ceremony of Joshua and Tabitha, he had tears as he realized that this was the young lady he'd been praying for for the last 21 years. It's a blessing. Pray that their future spouse will accept the Lord and have a personal relationship with Christ. Pray that the Lord will teach them character and a good work ethic. Pray that they will love the Lord passionately and seek His will fervently. Pray that their path will cross the path of your child at the right time. As a parent, watching their story unfold is a blessing and I wouldn't trade it for anything!
4. Pray for their desires. My children are each so very different, it's amazing! Pray that they will desire to do and pursue things that are right and holy. My Beth is loving baking lately and as she makes muffins or a loaf of bread she will deliver it to someone in our church and visit with them. It's a blessing to them and to her as well.
I think I could post another 100 points, but I will stop at these 5. Praying for our children is a duty that should never be forsaken. They are to precious to let a day go by that we don't bring their name before the Lord!
What a great post! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful advice :-)
ReplyDeleteAmen to everything. You gave me more ideas to pray for for my kids. Thank you, Kami. I always enjoy your posts.
ReplyDeleteI had stop praying for my three granddaughters ages 22 through 20. Then through this blog and brother Josh's sermon on Sunday nights about "just keep marching", I have realized that I need to be on my knees again for them. Thank you for this encouragement.
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