Praying for Our Kids
Years ago, I learned something invaluable about praying for my children.
Like many Christian mothers, I prayed for them every day. Yet I eventually realized that many of those prayers were focused more on my hopes for their circumstances than on God’s purposes for their lives.
The typical prayer was, “Lord, bless them,” with the unspoken assumption: Keep everything good.
Then one day I heard a sermon about the power of praying Scripture over our children. The pastor walked through several passages where the apostle Paul tells believers exactly what he is praying for them.
“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives…” (Colossians 1:9)
Paul goes on to pray that they would live lives worthy of the Lord, bear fruit in every good work, be strengthened with God’s power, endure patiently, and joyfully give thanks to the Father.
That changed everything for me.
If all the promises of God are “Yes” and “Amen” in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20), why would I limit my prayers to my own small ideas of what I think God should do?
So instead of merely praying:
“Lord, help Johnny get a job, get into this school, make the team, get good grades, be healed…”—all perfectly good prayers, but often focused on earthly outcomes—what if I prayed that Johnny would “live a life worthy of the Lord, bear fruit in every good work, endure all things patiently, and joyfully give thanks to the Father”?
Those kinds of prayers can shape a life in ways far beyond my limited understanding because they rest on what God knows is best. Scripture reminds us:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. (Isaiah 55:8)
God sees the full story. We do not.
Scripture also gives us an example of how limited our perspective can be when we pray.
Just before Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, excitement filled the air. The crowds would soon cry:
“Hosanna! Blessed is the King of Israel who comes in the name of the Lord!”
Believing Jesus was about to establish His earthly kingdom, Salome, the mother of James and John, approached Him with a request: “Lord, when You come into Your kingdom, let my sons sit at Your right hand and Your left.”
Jesus answered with words she could not yet understand: “Are you able to drink the cup I am about to drink?”
She likely imagined positions of honor and glory. Yet only days later she stood outside Jerusalem and saw Jesus crucified—one man on His right and another on His left. In that moment, the weight of her request must have become painfully clear.
As mothers, praying Scriptural prayers over our children can feel risky because those prayers place them fully into God’s hands rather than our own. Yet those are precisely the prayers God honors.
The answer to your prayer for a particular college may become a calling to the mission field instead.
One of my prayers for my boys was: “Lord, may their measure of faith come to full fruition.” At the time, I had no idea what that prayer might require. Looking back, I can see how costly that prayer sometimes became.
I could not foresee that one path would lead through prison and another through death.
Yet this I know with certainty: when you pray God’s Word over your children, you can trust that whatever comes is held under the authority of a loving and sovereign God. Those prayers are carried heavenward by the Holy Spirit and answered according to His perfect will.
And that is a far greater comfort than seeing life unfold according to my own plans. Whether in joy or sorrow, blessing or hardship, I would rather rest in God’s faithful love than trust the uncertainty of my own understanding.
