The Encourager – August 22, 2022 – A Prayer for Our Children

This past Sunday was Bless Our Schools Sunday, so we prayed for students, teachers, and staff members returning to school. Whether your children are just starting school, finishing a degree, going through a mid-life crisis, or raising children of their own, they could all use prayer. Even if you don’t have children yourself, you can probably think of some child to bring before the Lord. Remember, you may be the only believer in that child’s life, and your positive influence could be significant.

While it’s fine to pray that our children will work hard, do well in school, make good friends, and be successful in sports or music, we mustn’t neglect the Lord’s higher priorities for prayer. This is work with eternal consequences.

Nancy Guthrie, in tracing the theme of Offspring through the Bible, says, “we are in the midst of a spiritual battle….The Enemy wants you to be in league with him, not at enmity with him. He wants to claim you as his own for eternity. And if you have children, he wants them too. So what do we do? We take up spiritual weapons to fight this spirtiual battle.” Here’s how to pray, Guthrie says: “We saturate ourselves, and our homes, in the Word of God. Rather than presume upon God to save our children, we plead with God to save our children. We pray that our children will be at enmity with the Evil One and reconciled to God. We pray that they will not be deceived by the Devil’s lies, nor linger in rebellion against God. We pray that they will recognize the voice of their Savior when he calls to them, that they will be clothed by him in the righteousness of Christ. We pray that they will take hold of the grace that was promised in the midst of the curse. We pray that when Christ sees his offspring, he will see the faces of our children.” What a wonderful prayer, and one that is surely steeped in Scripture.

I’ve used Colossians 1:9-12 as a prayer for my children: Father, fill them with the knowledge of Your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that they may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please You in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Strengthen them with all power, according to Your glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience. May they joyously give You thanks, knowing that, through Christ, You have qualified them to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

Parenting/Mentoring can be really challenging, but the Holy Spirit is there to help. The more problems you see, the more prayer you need. For gender-specific prayer, add Proverbs 31:10-31 for the girls and Psalm 112 for the boys. Or just pray through whatever Scripture you are reading each day. (You are reading every day, right?) You really can’t go wrong with the Word of God. And kids today really need our prayers.

“Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.” - Colossians 4:2

God is faithful,
j

I recommend Nancy Guthrie’s encouraging book, “Even Better than Eden,” if you’ve never studied Biblical themes as they are developed in the Old and New Testaments. These quotes are from page 119.