Are you one of those parents that fights consuming worry as it relates to your kids? Join my club, sister. God was asking a lot of us parents when He gave us these small pieces of our heart walking around outside of our bodies. It’s hard not to worry! But would you breathe a little easier and sleep better at night if I said that you possess a worry busting, super-protection giving, weapon in your back pocket? It’s a little word that packs a big punch and it’s called, PRAYER.
And no, I’m not talking about the cute little prayers we prayed as kids ourselves. A.k.a. “Now I lay me down to sleep…”. I’m talking about prayers that move the heart of God and prayers that release legions of angels to guard and guide your precious ones. You can do this for your kids, every single day.
The problem is, if you haven’t been taught how to do it, or what to pray for, it can feel overwhelming. I’m going to give you some tools to help make praying for your kids a routine and a natural thing. And I’m going to use a cute little acronym too. Here you go:
P. R. A. Y.
(creative, I know.)
“P” stands for PROTECTION and PROBLEMS.
Every day in my quiet time, first thing in the morning, I pray God will protect my girls. I use scripture in my prayer because the word of God is your Star Wars lightsaber that cuts down the Dark Side in one swoop. Here is an example of what I pray as it relates to their protection:
“Lord, I ask that you protect my daughters and keep them under the shadow of your wings. (Psalm 91:4, Psalm 17:8, Deuteronomy 32:11). Watch over their hearts, souls, and minds today, and I pray that no weapon formed against them shall prosper. (Proverbs 4, Isaiah 54:17) Keep them from evil and make their paths straight. (2 Thessalonians 3:3, Proverbs 3:6)
I am also ready at any moment to pray WITH my girls if they have a problem. No matter if it’s a major drama situation at school, or they’ve lost their ballet shoes, we stop and pray. Not only are you entrusting the problem into the hands of the One who can fix it, you are modeling for your children how to first go to the throne!
“R” stands for ROUTINE.
Have a short prayer or declaration that you speak over your children daily. A great time to do this is when you drop them off at school in the morning. Every day as I pull into the drop off line and the girls are getting ready to get out of the car, I say the same thing to them.
“Lauren and Katherine, you are blessed and highly favored, and I plead the blood of Jesus over you. I pray you grow in wisdom and stature and favor among God and men.” (1 Chronicles 4:10, Revelation 12:11, Luke 2:52)
It may seem like a mouthful, but I’ve gotten good at saying it fast because now I occasionally get the slight eye roll and “Yeah, mom, I know.” However, there have been days when I have forgotten to say it and one of them stops me before she gets out of the car and proclaims, “Mom, you forgot to say it!” This routine has become second nature for us, and as I pull away from leaving my children I have an overwhelming sense of peace. Not only have I covered them in prayer for their protection, but I have spoken blessing, favor, and growth for their future in the same manner that Jesus grew as a child. It doesn’t get any better than that! Can I get an AMEN!
“A” stands for ASSISTANCE.
We can all use a little help and freshness in our prayer life. Sometimes we get in a rut and don’t really know what to pray as it relates to our kiddos. This is when getting a little assistance is key.
One of my favorite books is The Power of a Praying Parent, by Stormie Omartian. Stormie outlines 30 different concepts that you can pray over your children. Feeling loved and accepted, following truth and rejecting lies, and staying attracted to holiness and purity, are just a few examples of what you can find in this book.
What I love is how it’s broken down into short little chapters with example prayers on each topic. I like to read a chapter each morning and pray that prayer out loud with my cup of tea and cozy blanket. It shows me areas in my girls’ lives that I may not have considered praying for, and again, gives me peace of mind that God will guide and protect them in those areas.
“Y” stands for YEARLY.
When the new year comes around, my husband and I fast and pray for the coming year. We list out areas of our life that we want to cover in prayer and then we journal about those requests. One of those categories is our children. We pray over their spiritual growth, future plans, protection, future husbands, and friendships. We get specific in those areas and then we write those requests down to review the following year. When we reflect back on those requests, we are blown away by specific answers to those prayers. Some haven’t been answered yet, but we know that in God’s timing and in His perfect will they will be addressed.
What I love about praying yearly is it becomes a reminder of the goodness and faithfulness of God. When we see how prayers have been answered it renews our faith and makes us want to pray harder and bigger for our kids.
You’re not going to believe this, but God loves your kids even more than you do! Crazy, right? Every good and perfect gift comes from above, and He wants to lavish those blessings on your sons and daughters. Do your part as their parent and lean into the power of prayer. God just wants you to ask.
Fight the tendency to worry, and instead use the POWER given to you through the Holy Spirit to pray for your kids. It’s the best gift you can give your children.
