As On Purpose Parents, we want to stay on track in our efforts to raise our children to become interdependent, lifelong followers of Jesus, who desire to make a Kingdom contribution. While there are tons of books, workshops, podcasts, articles, and other forms of ongoing learning for parenting, none of those is as powerful as prayer!
God says it’s because we’re stressed out, worried, and frantically trying to survive the daily grind of parenting, that we should pray. In Philippians 4:6-7 He says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
In addition, in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 He instructs us to, “Never stop praying.” When combined with the topic of our children, this means that God is saying to us as parents, “Never stop praying about everything, especially your kids.”
Powerful Ways You Can Pray For Your Children
- Pray with and for your Parenting Partners
Praying with each other, if possible, is a fantastic way for parents to consistently hand their hopes, their fears, and their parenting struggles to God. It reminds both of you that you aren’t in this thing alone and that God is on the journey with you. If you can’t pray with each other, pray for each other.
- Pray with and for your Children
The benefits of praying with your child are too numerous to list, but some of them include modeling the importance of prayer and the accessibility of their Heavenly Father, teaching them to trust God with their daily successes and struggles, and allowing them to hear you thanking God for them.
- Be Consistent
Repetition is the key to forming any habit, and in order to create the habit of praying for your children, you have to be consistent. Set time aside for it, mark it on your calendar, and make it a normal part of your routine.
- Be Creative
Look for creative ways to pray for your children, so that as prayerful parenting becomes a habit and never becomes routine or boring. For example, practice the art of trigger prayers. Over the course of any day, there are dozens if not hundreds of parenting moments or triggers that can be used as reminders to pray for your children.
Some Examples of Trigger Prayers
1. Pray for your child during feeding
2. Pray for your child while changing a diaper
3. Pray for your child every time you buckle the car seat
4. Pray for your child when packing their lunch
5. Pray for your child while they play video games
6. Pray for your child when they hop out of the car at school drop-off
7. Pray for your child while they are at sports practice
8. Pray for your child when they borrow the family vehicle
9. Pray for your child when you do their laundry
A Better Way To Parent
There is nothing easy about parenting and as a result, many parents fall into one of two patterns: panicked parenting or passive parenting. However, there is a better way. Engage on the journey in the habit of prayerful parenting. Remember, never stop praying about everything, especially your kids.
If you want to dive a little deeper into this topic, watch our video by clicking here.
