Children and Prayer
Module 2 Lesson 1
Praying Scripture for Our Children
Recommended Reading: When Children Pray by Cherri Fuller
An important concept in praying, which may be new to some, is letting scripture guide us in our prayers. This is especially true when it comes to praying for children. Many parents have great concerns and often need help in praying for their children. You probably hear this most when children are in their teenage years and which is sometimes in the rebellious stage. During this stage, parents may feel that they have failed. A close look at scripture shows that there is help for us and hope that our children can turn to God.
We should remember that there are conditions in scripture that we must follow in our lives. One is our obedience to God’s word. Obedience starts by staying in the word Psalms 119:11 says “Thy Word have I hid in my heart.”, and obedience also includes daily communication with God (Ps 86:3...O Lord: for I cry unto Thee daily.). In that cry, it is important to let the word of God guide our heart.
To help us understand what the Bible says concerning our children, let’s look at a brief overview of the help that God provides to us. This help is found in the promises in God’s word. Regular reading and studying of God’s word can help us learn what the promises are.
To start, God wants us to come to Him and ask His help and involvement with our children. Matthew 11:28 “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” God wants us to trust Him and to rest assured that He will carry out His promises. God will lead us in our study of the scripture. He wants to help us. Jeremiah 29:11 says: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” God’s Promises, do include our children and give hope.
When we look at God’s promises, they are not abstract. They are written for us, to help us. Consider the following three (3) points:
- God’s Word is true and cannot fail—Matthew 5:18 says: “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled”. Titus 1:2 says: “God, that cannot lie”.
- The promises in the Bible are written for us. All the promises of God are yes and in Him, Amen (so be it) II Corinthians 1: 20
- The promises of God give us a hope that God will keep His promises, As we look to them, we find that some of them apply to our children and show God’s part in encouraging our children to follow the Lord. There are times that answers to prayers have had a long time in coming. We must not forget that God is faithful… See I Corinthians 1:9.
Wheatland Ministries has researched promises that can help parents in praying for their children. The link is listed below:
http://wheatlandministries.blogspot.com/2012/09/when-children-are-not-following.html
Copy it and paste it in your browser. It should bring up the article, which is titled “When Children are not Following the Lord—What do we do.”
Take time to review that article and let God encourage you to learn how to use His word in prayer for our children. God’s Word brings God’s help.
Finally, joining together with others in prayer is very encouraging and helpful to us.
Reflection:
After you have studied the article, consider sharing some thought about the following.
***Why is it important to base your prayers for children on God’s promises for them?
***How would praying with other for you children make a difference?
***We search the scriptures for promises that can encourage us in prayer—a child comes to the Lord with a childlike faith—how would a child’s approach help us in searching for God’s promises concerning our children?
Wheatland Ministries
PO Box 697
Walkersville, MD 21793
Written by Lewis Turner
When children are not following the Lord—What do we do?
There are a number of parents who have seen their children not follow the Lord. They become discouraged and do not know what to do. Yet their heart cry still cries that their children would follow the Lord Jesus as their Savior and Lord.
Many parents have shed tears for their children. Did you know the Lord has seen those tears too?
- He actually saves them. Ps 56:8 says “thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?”
- God hears and sees our cry. It is precious to Him and in reality, those tears are like prayers. Those tears come from the heart and God looks on the heart. (See I Sam 16:7)
- Ps 145:19 says “He will fulfill the desire of them that fear Him: “He will hear their cry.”
- God wants us to have hope that the situation is not hopeless.
God wants us to allow Him to be involved in our children’s lives. As we obey Him, we will see Him work. Consider the following Scriptures. They can be used when you pray:
Is 41:9 I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
Consider asking God to choose your child.
Deut 30:6 Paraphrased: “When we obey, God will cleanse our hearts and our children’s hearts to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart.”
Ask the Lord to help us obey His word daily, and as we do, that He will work in out children’s heart to love Him.
Ps 90:16 “let Thy work appear unto Thy servants and Thy Glory unto their children
This is a promise that we should consider asking for the Lord to reveal Himself and His work to our children.
Is 44:3 “I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.”
This is a wonderful promise and we should ask for God’s Holy Spirit and Blessing for our children.
Prov 11:21b “The seed of the righteous shall be delivered.”
Again, this is another powerful promise to thank the Lord for as we obey the Lord--we can ask that our children be delivered.
Prayer
Go ahead of us Lord. Prepare the way and our hearts, so our desire can be fulfilled. The desire that is given to us by you and your word. We ask for the victory as you stated in I Cor 15:57. “But thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory,”—the victory of our children following Jesus. In Jesus Name, we pray this.
Remember:
· God is always looking for a way to give us a future and a hope. See Jer 29:11.
· He wants to hasten and perform His word. See Jer 29:12.
· He wants us to call on Him to help.
Also, take time to seek out Godly mature prayer partners who will pray with you, and give Godly counsel.
Most of all, God cares about our children. His word for our children is powerful and shows us what He wants for them. Using God’s Promises for our children in prayer, follows the scriptural direction found in I John 5:14-15 which says: “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
If you have not yet used scriptures in your prayers for your children, maybe it is time to consider including them in prayers for our children. God will bless us when we do.
©2012 Lewis Turner
SCROLL for additional content: Commentary ~ Resources~ Replies ~