Sunday, August 3, 2008

31 Days of Praying for Your Child

Never underestimate the power of prayer. Out of all the things we do for our children on a daily basis, prayer is the most powerful tool we have. Comedian Tim Hawkins has this great routine where he talks about the Scripture verse concerning a "hedge of protection" that we can pray around people. He said that he is not satisfied with a hedge. He is afraid that the devil can jump right over that hedge. He said he wants to power up his prayers and build a concrete wall, a moat and some razor wire so that nothing can get over that bad boy to his kids.

Exactly the way I feel too. I want my spiritual knees to be so calloused that Satan shakes in his boots when he even thinks about coming near my boys. Don't even think about coming near my sweet little twin nieces? We'll put some Kung Fu spiritual hurting on you.

31 Days of Prayer for Your Child

1 salvation “Lord, let salvation spring up within my children, that they may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory” (Isaiah 45:8, 2 Timothy 2:10).

2 growth in grace “I pray that they may ‘grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’” (2 Peter 3:18).

3 love “Grant, Lord, that my children may learn to ‘live a life of love,’ through the Spirit who dwells in them” (Ephesians 5:2, Galatians 5:22).

4 honesty and integrity ” May integrity and honesty be their virtue and their protection” (Psalm 25:21, NLT).

5 self-control ” Father, help my children not to be like many others around them, but let them be ‘alert and self-controlled’ in all they do” (1 Thessalonians 5:6)

6 a love for God’s Word ” May my children grow to find your Word ‘more precious than gold, than much pure gold; [and] sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb’” (Psalm 19:10).

7 justice ” God, help my children to love justice as you do and to ‘act justly’ in all they do” (Psalm 11:7, Micah 6:8).

8 mercy ” May my children always ‘be merciful, as [their] Father is merciful’” (Luke 6:36).

9 respect (for self, others, authority) ” Father, grant that my children may ’show proper respect to everyone,’ as your Word commands” (1 Peter 2:17a).

10 strong, Biblical self-esteem ” Help my children develop a strong self-esteem that is rooted in the realization that they are ‘God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus’” (Ephesians 2:10).

11 faithfulness “‘ Let love and faithfulness never leave [my children],’ but bind these twin virtues around their necks and write them on the tablet of their hearts” (Proverbs 3:3).

12 courage “May my children always ‘Be strong and courageous’ in their character and in their actions” (Deuteronomy 31:6).

13 purity “‘Create in [them] a pure heart, O God,’ and let their purity of heart be shown in their actions” (Psalm 51:10).

14 kindness “Lord, may my children ‘always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else’” (1 Thessalonians 5:15).

15 generosity “Grant that my children may ‘be generous and willing to share [and so] lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age’” (1 Timothy 6:18-19).

16 peace, peaceability “Father, let my children ‘make every effort to do what leads to peace’” (Romans 14:19).

17 joy ” May my children be filled ‘with the joy given by the Holy Spirit’” (1 Thessalonians 1:6).

18 perseverance ” Lord, teach my children perseverance in all they do, and help them especially to ‘run with perseverance the race marked out for [them]‘” (Hebrews 12:1).

19 humility ” God, please cultivate in my children the ability to ’show true humility toward all’” (Titus 3:2).

20 compassion ” Lord, please clothe my children with the virtue of compassion” (Colossians 3:12).

21 responsibility ” Grant that my children may learn responsibility, ‘for each one should carry his own load’” (Galatians 6:5).

22 contentment ” Father, teach my children ‘the secret of being content in any and every situation. . . . through him who gives [them] strength’” (Philippians 4:12-13).

23 faith ” I pray that faith will find root and grow in my children’s hearts, that by faith they may gain what has been promised to them” (Luke 17:5-6, Hebrews 11:1-40).

24 a servant heart ” God, please help my children develop servant hearts, that they may serve wholeheartedly, ‘as to the Lord, and not to men’” (Ephesians 6:7, KJV).

25 hope ” May the God of hope grant that my children may overflow with hope and hopefulness by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).

26 the willingness and ability to work hard ” Teach my children, Lord, to value work and to work hard at everything they do, ‘as working for the Lord, not for men’” (Colossians 3:23).

27 a passion for God ” Lord, please instill in my children a soul that “followeth hard after thee,” a heart that clings passionately to you (Psalm 63:8, KJV).

28 self-discipline ” Father, I pray that my children may develop self-discipline, that they may acquire ‘a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair’” (Proverbs 1:3).

29 prayerfulness ” Grant, Lord, that my children’s lives may be marked by prayerfulness, that they may learn to ‘pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests” (Ephesians 6:18).

30 gratitude ” Help my children to live lives that are always ‘overflowing with thankfulness,’ ‘always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ’” (Colossians 2:7, Ephesians 5:20).

31 a heart for missions ” Lord, please help my children to develop a heart for missions, a desire to see your glory declared among the nations, your marvelous deeds among all peoples” (Psalm 96:3).

15 comments:

Melissa B. said...

Thanks for the suggestions--I HOPE I've raised "spiritual" children, but you never know...BTW, don't forget today's Silly Sunday Sweepstakes!! I've got a SWEET snap for you to caption!

HEATHER said...

Wow I love this!
Thanks for sharing!

Amydeanne said...

I'm going to print this one out so I can do it for my children! Thank-you!!

Melissa B. said...

Thanks so much for sharing the comment love! BTW: I'm caving in to the commercial pressure and hosting a giveaway/contest starting tomorrow. I just returned from Asbury Park NJ, home to Jersey roots rock, aka Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Van Zandt, etc. I've got a couple of cool prizes to give away to celebrate the Dog Days of Summer, so tune please tune in!

mayberry said...

I pray for Mini-me daily, but sometimes I need help knowing what to pray for. This was a good post. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Powerful stuff, Deanna, thanks for this post!

Anonymous said...

Hi Deanna -
Thanks for sharing this wonderful blessing. I will use in praying for my little ones.. I ran across your blog while doing a google search on hogan's heroes.. ;~)

Kim Heinecke said...

Thanks for stopping by Deliberate Hope today!! This is a wonderful post. I write a blog for single moms and I would love to post a link to it.

Deanna said...

Mayberry - It always helps me feel better when I can pray more specifically.

Willow - You are welcome.

Anonymous - Welcome! So glad you are here!

Kim - Feel free!

Carrie said...

I am always looking for prayer ideas. Thanks so much for sharing!

Beloved of the Lord said...

Thanks so much for this. I was told to come over from Plunderful Life, and I'm so glad I did. I'm printing it out now.

Anonymous said...

Fantastic list. I could definatly use more of these things in my life as well. I love the scripture refrences. Would you mind if I posted the list with obvious refrences to your original post?
Jennifer at
www.myspaceforrandom.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Great list. Thanks. BTW: I found you through Plunderful Life.

Anonymous said...

Oh and I found you through A Plunderful Life.

Tracy said...

Hi! I am an author from The Homeschool Post and was sent over here by a friend to check out your post. Would you be willing to let us post this as a guest post by you? We think out readers would love it!

Please let me know- You can e-mail me personally at:
probablytracy at ymail dot com

Thanks! Tracy