Prayers for Your Children
Prayers for Your Children
Sometimes it is difficult to know WHAT to pray for my children. When I am in crisis, I grab my Bible or my index cards trying to find the right scripture: Where is that scripture on purity? I leaf through the Bible, message a friend or search a phrase on Biblegateway.com. These ways are effective, but not efficient. Maybe this is all new to you and the Bible is as foreign to you as a page in the middle of a Tolstoy novel. You may know the general outline, but you certainly don’t know what it says in the middle of page 325.
I get it. Thankfully, God has placed teachers on the earth to help us along the way. If you are reading Praying Circles around Your Children and you are having a difficult time getting started or you find yourself praying desperate prayers such as: please let ____ sleep through the night, go to the potty, stop hitting and biting, etc…. Don’t worry. God hears those kinds of prayers! Didn’t Jesus pray, “Let this cup pass–” a moment of desperation?
Give yourself some grace. God does. He gives grace to the humble. He knows your name and your need before you even ask. Call or message a friend and ask for prayer. Just show up at their front door if it’s too much for you to handle in prayer alone.
If you are looking for a great companion book to Praying Circles Around your Children, a book that gives a head start, with scripture prayers all typed up for you, here it is:
Praying the Scriptures For Your Children. My friend Selena (glencampbellclan.blogspot.com) gave me this book as a gift and what an awesome one it is! Priceless.
Jodie Berndt has divided the book into subjects such as “Praying for Your Child’s Salvation, Praying for Your Child to Love God’s Word, Praying for Your Child’s Gifts….” At the end of each chapter are some sample prayers. Here is one from “Praying for Your Child’s Salvation”:
Heavenly Father….
Remove the veil from __________’s eyes so that he can see the light of the gospel. Shine your light in his heart to give him the light of the knowledge of your glory in the face of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:4-6)
I have the section “Praying for Your Child’s Purpose in Life” bookmarked with a scripture card. This section is so important for all children, but especially for my adopted children. They struggle with purpose and destiny even more than me (and I struggle). Here’s a great prayer:
Heavenly Father…..
You know the plans you have for _____, plans to prosper him and not to harm him, plans to give him hope and a future. Cause _______ to call upon you and come and pray to you, and then listen to him, O Lord. Let him seek you with all his heart, and find you when he does seek you. (Jeremiah 29: 11-13)
Blessings on your weekend! Keep praying! Don’t forget to join my fellow blogger, Maria as she studies with us! For next week, read Chapter 5, The 2nd Circle.
*photo by Ania Guire