Prayer. It is such a simple thing, but greatly underestimated. People say, “I feel so helpless because all I can do is pray.” I used to say that too, but now I realize that prayer is the most powerful thing that I can do. It is the most powerful tool that I have as a parent, but yet I think that the population at large misses out on utilizing it. What about you? Do you pray for your children on a regular basis?
I’d like to say that I’ve always been good at praying for my children–in fact I’d love to tell you that I am now an expert on it, but that would be a lie. I’m a simple mom, just like you, that has only begun scratching the surface of the power of my prayers. I have been praying for my husband for years, but didn’t really know where to start with my kids. It just seemed like the impact of my prayers for him were more tangible. For my kids, it’s like…well, it just seemed like the fruit is so far off and there is so much to pray for that I didn’t even know where to begin. Silly me! What was I thinking? Just like I don’t want to leave my husband’s life to chance, so it is the same with my children. It has been because of the answers to prayer in his life and because of my increased study about what God’s Word says about prayer in the last few years, I have begun to pray diligently for my children. I believe it is the best gift that I can give them.
It hit me one day that if I am not praying for my children then who is? I don’t want to look back with “what ifs” and wonder if I had prayed for my children, if things would’ve turn out differently. So I took these thoughts and turned them into action. I found it very helpful to use “The Power of a Praying Wife” book by Stormie O’Martian as a jump start for praying for my husband, so why not try “The Power of a Praying Parent”? There are so many resources out there for this so it doesn’t really matter what you choose, just choose something and get started praying! I began with a 30-day format and I still do it to this day. Each day I pray a different chapter for my children, but as I pray through that chapter, I merely use it as a guide. My brains takes off from there.
I’ve also found it beneficial to use scripture to pray over particular areas of my children’s lives–in fact, I’ve found this to apply across the board to all of my prayers. I use Jesus’ example in scripture when He is tempted by Satan and He uses scripture to defeat him. This began a quest in me to know more scripture readily so that I can effectively use scripture to cover my children and to fight off those thoughts in my head that try to tell me how much I stink at parenting. I use my new found knowledge to focus on the truth of God’s Word and not on the facts of my life. God is a big God and He is in the business of doing amazing things–I just need to ask.
James 5:16b – “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”
Psalm 34:15 – “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their cry.”
Psalm 116:1-2 – “I love the Lord because He hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because He bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!”
These verses are barely scratching the surface of how God feels about us praying to Him. These are some of my favorites because I love knowing that someone cares enough to be attentive and listen to me. Even though I can go a million places and be with people all day, I can still come to the end of my day and still feel like I have not truly been heard. It increases my desire to pray when I know that God delights to hear from me. Then it I realize that if He delights to hear from me, then He most certainly delights to answer my prayers. So I know that I can bring my concerns and desires for my children to Him and have confidence that I have been heard. After all, they are His children and He wants me to come to Him with their needs.
Recently, I’ve also found it effective to spend time praying more specifically for each day. Not just about the big stuff and the future stuff, but for the daily needs of my kids. As I struggle with whether God really wants to hear about my piddly concerns, I have to fall back on His Word to remind me that He does care about the day in and day out. He knows that I am frustrated with the squabbling of my kids and wants me to tell Him about it. He knows that I feel like we are stuck in some of the areas of our life and I need to tell Him how I feel about that. He knows what is on my heart. He knows my every thought. In fact, I love it when I can go to Him and tattle on someone–even my kids. Sometimes it just feels better to let out my true feelings about something and know that I am going to the “Ultimate Problem Solver”.
Of all the things you have to do today in your role as a Mom, I encourage you to do the simplest, but yet the most powerful thing–pray for your children today. If you don’t know where to start, grab a book or go on the internet and find some resource to get you started. Your children cannot afford to go another day without your prayers. Who knows your children better than you do? Who else can pray for specific things about your children like you? No one. You are the one God placed here to intercede for your children–now get on it, Girlfriend!
Thank you so much for this post and the “Preparing for Rain” post, I really needed to read those right now, not only for affirmation of what I do, but encouragement for what more I can do!