More on “Pray Big for Your Child”

Will Davis states that “We must believe huge things of God.” and this means praying big prayers for our children.  Here are some verses we can pray regularly for our children:

• Numbers 6:24-26 – Lord, please bless and keep my child; make your face shine upon her and be gracious to her; turn your face toward her and give her peace.
• Ephesians 1:3 – Jesus, thank you for already giving my child every spiritual blessing that you possess.  Please help her realize how blessed she is and to live the spiritually rich life that you gave her through your death.
• 1 Timothy 6:12 – Lord God, help my children to fight the good fight of faith  May they take hold of the eternal life to which they were called when they made their good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
• Jeremiah 29:11 – God has amazing plans for our children, plans we can’t begin to fathom.  He has a future and a hope for our children.  Thank you God for your plans for our children.

Prayers must be God-centered (for his Glory, not ours), based on vision and calling (let God direct our prayers for our children), biblical (they can never contradict the Bible), and can’t be manipulated (pray for things only God can do).

What I have learned is that we must lay of firm foundation through prayer, as Will Davis directs in his book.  In addition, this means we must pray the following “basics” for our children:

• Pray that he/she will awaken to the reality of God.  We can pray Psalm 71:5 – I pray that you will be my child’s hope and confidence all the days of her life.
• Pray that he/she will have a healthy fear of God (healthy respect means they revere Him and approach him with love and awe).  We can pray Psalm 2:11 – I pray that my child will serve you with a holy fear and rejoice before you with trembling.
• Pray that he/she will develop a godly character (an unshakable inner core or clear knowledge of who he/she is in Christ and the personal grit not to compromise it).  We can pray Hebrews 13:1 – I pray that my child will develop the character of Christ.  Let her be an exact representation of Jesus’ heart and attitude.
• Pray that he/she will love obedience (learn the power and blessing, learn to obey instantly, won’t negotiate or stall in obedience, will realize pain that comes with obedience, and will practice obedience no matter how difficult or costly).  We can pray Psalm 40:8 – Help my child to desire to do your will; place your law within her heart.
• Pray that God’s favor will rest on my child (to be graced or favored by God is to receive undue esteem, honor or blessing from Him).  We can pray Psalm 90:17 – Lord God, may your favor rest upon my child; establish the work of her hands for you – yes, establish the work of her hands.
• Pray that my child will grow up knowing the scriptures (they will embrace the Word, live it on a daily basis, fall in love with God and run as far away from sin as possible).  We can pray Psalm 22:10 – Lord, may my child be able to say: “From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.”
• Pray that my child will recognize God’s voice.  We can pray John 10:27 – Lord Jesus, I pray that my child will listen to your voice and that she will follow you.
• Pray that my child will marry a godly person.  Next to their decision to follow Christ, a child’s choice of a mate will probably be the most important and impacting life decision he/she will make.  We must pray they will love Jesus more than our child, they will date godly people who love Christ, they will remain sexually pure, they will grow up in a home that honors Jesus, and they will be content to remain single until the time God brings a godly spouse.  We can pray Genesis 24:3-4 – Holy Father, please bring my child a godly spouse from among your people.

And this is just the start of this wonderful prayer journey.  I just had to share what I had read so far.  Jason and I have been praying specific prayers each night for our children’s hearts, souls, minds and strength.  I am a little behind in reading and blogging as I just started my second week of class at UTT but hope to catch up with all that I am learning in my non-required (and much more enjoyable that Human Resources and Accounting) reading. :)