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Prayer For Your Children

I've always prayed for my children, although probably not as often as I should have. I prayed for them as I thought of it, if they were in crisis. I've prayed a hedge of protection over them periodically, as the situation called for. Personally, I have struggled with my prayer life for what seems like my entire life. I go through seasons of really intense prayer, but I also go through seasons of prayerlessness. I know the consequences of prayer being absent in my life. More importantly, I know the blessings of my prayer life being strong. Still, I struggle. Recently, as I perused the loveliness that is Pinterest, I came across this: 31 Ways To Pray I re-pinned it from my friend, Heather. My youngest was born not quite 3 months ago, and I had already been saying prayers over her each night as I nursed her before bed. I was also sneaking in and praying over my little Monkey after he'd already gone to sleep. I felt a little redundant, as I murmured the same few words over them each night. As I browsed through this article, I was struck with the amazing number of ways that I could pray over them. I could pray for not only their salvation, but for self-discipline, for prayerfulness, for a love for God's word. I was excited about the possibilities, and how this could shape their whole lives. I forwarded the article on to the hubs, and he also found it exciting. He downloaded the article, printed it off and brought it home. We discussed it, and were anxious to get started. Since it was the end of April, we started with the coordinating day of the month. It just so happens that we started with praying that they would have a passion for God. The verse referenced that day was Psalm 63:8, which states, "My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me." What a simple, yet powerful verse. I want that for all of my children. I want that for me. I want to feel so much passion for God that my soul clings to Him. Since it was a short verse, I decided that in addition to praying for them, we should memorize the verse as a family. Scripture memorization is something else we had been talking about, but neither my husband nor myself had committed to it. Early morning light poured in from the kitchen window, as we gathered in the middle of the room. Hubby and I both had one hand on each child, and the hubs began to pray that they would develop such a passion for God that it would never cease, never dwindle, never fade. We read the verse together, and had Monkey repeat it after us. Periodically throughout the day, I would yell, "Baby! Psalm 63:8!" and Hubs would recite it. We would have Monkey say it over again. I'm happy to report that Hubs and I have it nailed. Monkey is working on it, and is actually pretty close. As soon as he knows it, we'll pick another verse and start on it. I'm not sure how long it will take, but we'll eventually have over 31 verses memorized as a family. As soon as Sweet Pea can, well, you know... talk, we'll work her into it as well. In just a few short days, I have seen some blessings come from this prayer time. For one, praying so specifically for my children to be blessed in the morning has kept me vigilant of other things I need to specifically be praying for. Since I start my day by conversing with my God, I have found myself talking to Him throughout the day about both the really relevant and the really mundane things in my life. Secondly, it has been such a privilege to pray with my spouse every day. We have prayed together many times, but never every single day. It has drawn us even closer. Plus, I have to tell you... there is nothing more heartwarming than hearing your man pray over your babies. As if I wasn't in love with him enough already. While it's hard to see what little Sweet Pea thinks of all this, it has already had an impact on Monkey. Since he turned 2, we have had him kneel beside his bed each night and say prayers. He's always seen us say grace before meals. It has been our honor to see him enjoy talking to Jesus. A few months ago as we sat down to eat dinner, we held hands and waited for Daddy to bless the food. As Daddy began with "Heavenly Father," Monkey suddenly interrupted with "Dear Jesus, tank you fo dis day..." We obviously let him say grace that night. He basically said a very similar prayer to what he says at bedtime. He didn't mention the food, but blessed each family member, plus several friends. We were grinning ear to ear by the time he said "in Jesus name, AAAAAAAAAAAA-MEN." In the past couple of days, his prayers have broadened. He clearly feels secure and comfortable talking to Jesus about anything. We had a play-date with a couple friends yesterday, and I asked him to say grace at lunch. He thanked Jesus for letting his friends come play with him. He thanked Him for the food, for his family, for the day of play. I love that he is learning to just talk to Him. He loves when we gather together in the kitchen each morning. He makes sure that we each have our hands on him. He bows his little head, and holds very still. As any of you with a two-year-old knows, you can be hard pressed to have a toddler that age hold still for 2 seconds, much less several minutes. This morning, as the Hubs was headed out the door extra early so that he could catch a plane, everyone was going in different directions. Hubs said, "Alright you guys, before I leave... let's pray." The chaos came to a halt as Monkey and I moved next to him so we could start our day off right. We glanced at our list, and since it's the first of the month, today we prayed for their salvation. We prayed that they would each ask Jesus into their hearts as they grew up with Him being the center of their lives. It would have been easy to forget that special prayer time today, when the extraneous mess was almost overwhelming. I'm grateful for a husband who made sure he brought us all together this morning...that he blessed his kids with prayer before he left town, that he made time for us during a frantic morning. Tomorrow morning, I'll pray over them without him, knowing that when he gets home after their bedtime, he'll go to their rooms and pray over them again. Parent Commitment at our church is coming up. Each of my children have been dedicated to the Lord in a commitment service, and now the last of them will follow suit. Sweet Pea is an answer to prayer herself. I prayed over her my entire pregnancy. I lost a baby a year before we found out we were having her, and she is the direct result of a ton of prayer over us. Women in my Bible study, my MOPs group, my husband... trust me, she is the product of some powerful prayers. God has a plan for each of my children, and I know that there is a calling on this baby girl. As we continue to pray over these little ones, I would encourage you to pray over your babies as well. I would ask for you to share with me the direct results of prayers for your kiddos, be it something that happened 20 years ago, or something that happened yesterday. I also ask that you pray for us... that we continue to pray over them daily, that it draws all of us closer to our Savior, that we are the parents we were created to be.