We live in a wild and crazy world, and our kids go out in it every day. It can be hard when you want to be with them all the time, even though you can’t because you have other responsibilities. The best thing you can do is pray over your children throughout the day. What should you pray for your children? Here are ten suggestions.
1. Faith: It’s always important to pray for your child’s faith. We live in a world where people would much rather live by their own rules than God’s rules. Kids are no different. They can be very cruel to each other. Their peers and friends who aren’t believers as well can easily lead teenagers off track. Ask God to help your child have faith in him in every situation and for them to bolster their faith in him. To help this, you can encourage your child to study the Bible or even have a Bible study with them every morning or evening. Pray with them every night and before they leave for school in the morning.
2. Wisdom: Pray for God’s wisdom to be imparted to your children. Ask him to help them make wise decisions and pray for their discernment in hearing his voice. Peer pressure runs rampant in our society, both in school, after school, and online. Sit down with your children and talk to them about wisdom and making wise decisions. Remind them that if they aren’t sure what to do, they should ask God, and he will lead them in the right direction.
3. Protection: The world is rife with crime in all forms. Kids kill and do things to one another. People lure and kidnap kids for human trafficking. People do things to each other for various reasons and the list goes on. Then there are the everyday things that can happen like car accidents, fires, and other things. These are all things that can make a parent anxious about the world their child is living in, but we remember God is in control. Sit down with your kids and talk about different situations that they could get into and how to handle them. Teach them how to protect themselves. Pray and ask God to cover them and keep them safe as they go about their day.
4. Health: Illness can hit our kids any time of the year, from sinus infections to colds and flu. Pray over your child’s health and ask God to keep them healthy. Ask him to help you stay alert so that if something is amiss, you will catch it right away and be able to take your child to the doctor. In the meantime, while they are healthy, thank God and praise him for that. Remind yourself to be thankful because there are other parents who are dealing with worse issues than a cold or sinus infection, things like cancer, and other diseases. The next time you are home with a sick child, thank him it is something simple and not life-threatening.
5. Character: Pray for your child’s character. You do your best as a parent to raise them well and teach them right from wrong. Pray that they will keep the morals and values you have taught them close to heart. As they get older, pay close attention to them and how they are acting. If you notice something seems off, sit down and see if they want to talk about it. If not, don’t push; they may open up to you eventually. All kinds of situations in life affect a person’s character and behavior. Ask God to help them keep their character intact and be a good person all around.
6. Friendships: Your kids will have all kinds of friends throughout their lives, some good and some bad. Pray for God to bring the right friends into their lives all throughout their lives. If you notice your child is not acting normal, take stock of their friends and who they have been hanging out with. Sometimes you will know who the bad influences are, sometimes you won’t. Be active in welcoming your child’s friends into your home to get to know them a little. I’m not saying to be overbearing and embarrass your teenagers, but at the very least, know first names, maybe a little family background, and their interests. This may give you a better idea of who your kids are hanging out with. If you are very concerned about someone, sit down and have a talk with your child about them. Point out what you are seeing and state your opinion and then let them make the choice whether to continue hanging out with this person. This can go for both your young, teenage, and adult children.
7. Purpose: God created everyone with a purpose, and sometimes, it’s hard to figure out what that purpose is. We often try different occupations, trying to figure out what we are supposed to do. What’s even crazier is that we expect our teenagers and young adults to know their whole career path at eighteen. No one knows that one hundred percent for sure. Pray for your child’s purpose to be revealed to them. Ask God to clarify what they are supposed to be doing with their life, whether it’s working a specific job, going into ministry, or being a stay-at-home parent. Or even something else. God creates all of us to do different things to bring joy and enrich the world and people around us. You don’t want your child to spend their lives doing the wrong thing, so start praying over them when they are young to reveal their calling.
8. Education: Our education system can be a scary thing because God isn’t always in it. If your children attend public school, pray over their education and that they are being taught things that are true, especially about history. Pray for their teachers, especially Christian teachers in the public system, who are being silenced because of their beliefs amidst all the ungodly things that are happening in our public education system. Ask God to open their minds and hearts even wider to receive what they are learning in school. Pray over the staff and school itself and, once again, ask for God’s protection over it.
If your adult children are in college, pray over their education as well. Ask God to help them discern what’s true from what isn’t. Pray for them to remain strong in their beliefs and not be swayed by what is being taught or the peers they interact with. Especially with public colleges.
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9. Peace: Peace is such an elusive word in our society. It seems like no one is at peace with everything going on in our lives and our world. Sadly, kids aren’t immune to this either. These days, they see and know too much that steals their childhood and their inner peace, which leads to depression and anxiety.
Pray for all of your children to have peace in every situation. Remind them they can always turn to God no matter what’s going on. Also, talk to them about doing their best not to worry or be anxious and trusting him in everything. Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
10. Love: Love can be a hard thing in our society. We are called to love our neighbors as ourselves, but sometimes, it’s hard when we have troublesome people in our lives. This goes for kids, too. Sometimes they have a classmate they don’t like or a teacher they don’t like. Of course, there are the school bullies that nobody likes. However, as we all know, treating people with love and kindness can turn a heart.
Pray for all of your children to have a loving heart and to treat everyone they encounter with love and kindness. Talk with them about how they treat people and that even though it’s hard, we are called to treat people with love and kindness.
Our children need our prayers every hour of every day. Just like they need Jesus all the time, take some time every day to pray over your children and watch how the Lord works in their hearts and lives.