Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Works for Me Wednesday: Praying for Our Kids

I'll get back to sharing my story soon, but as I was typing it, I remembered how faithful my mom was (and still is) to pray for me. I know the blessed life I am living right now was directly influenced by Mom's prayers.

She prayed for the immediate things going on in my life, but she also prayed for my future- my future husband, my future children, etc. My dad, brother, and I often talk about how we have been so covered by Mom's gift of prayer. I always know I can call Mom up on the phone and ask, "Will you pray for me?" And she will.

Wanting to be a praying mom like mine, I saw the value in prayer, but I didn't necessarily know what to pray about for my kids. Then I found this list online. There is one spiritual virtue or character trait to pray for each day of the month. It has been so helpful in showing me how to pray about their spiritual development.

I saved the list as a Word file I can refer to do during my morning prayer time, and I also printed a hard copy I leave on my nightstand so I can check it before bed. On the first day of each month, I start over again at number one. Today, being the 24th, I prayed for my kids to all have servants hearts. In my prayers, I include Monster Truck (see sidebar for explanation) and Whombie (our future adopted son "whomever he may be").

There are many things I pray for my kids that aren't on the list, but I'm thankful to have this reference and know that God will be shaping their hearts as they grow up.

An unexpected result of going through this list has been realizing how much I need to grow in each of these areas. This list could be used to pray for anyone you care about and also as a list for praying for yourself. None of these things come naturally. Only God can make these reality in a person.

You can use this link to find the list online, or I've included it in this post below my name for you to copy and paste and save for your own use. Works for me! : )

You can read my past WFMW posts here.
You can read other WFMW tips here.

I hope you will come back and visit again.

Love,


31 Ways to Pray for Your Children:

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).

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love this list. I'm going to share it with all my MOPS friends and the ladies in my Bible study. Thanks for sharing it! I have kind of a rote prayer that I pray for them that hits all the main points, but I like the emphasis this has on godly virtues. It will be a great addition to what I already pray for my kids.

Hilty Sprouts said...

Thanks Becky! I remember you talking about this list but always forgot to ask you send it to me. I have it copied now!

Jen

Anonymous said...

What a great list, thank you for sharing it! What a great way to pray for our children. And it's a good way to remember it.

D'Anna said...

Thank you so much for the list! I'm going to print it out and give it to my friends here in Smolensk, Russia!
It is so exciting to think what God may do thru our prayers!

jan said...

Thank you so much for sharing this list.
I love, love, love how scripture is used for each prayer!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting this! I so enjoy the book you gave me for husbands but was feeling at a loss as to the girls. Thanks again!

:) Marisa

Tami@ourhouse said...

Oh what a great prayer list. So helpful in directing our prayers. I really need that, esp in the mornings.

Thanks so much.

Anonymous said...

Becky, I am so glad you posted this prayer list. Today was the prayer for HOPE and HOPEFUlNESS and as I prayed that over Hannah, Flora and any other children that will be in our home, it made me cry. I pray for both of my girls but never prayed that they would have hope?
Thank You!
Shiloh

Anonymous said...

Excellent list - What a great jumping off point for prayer - not just for our children but ourselves as well.

Anonymous said...

That's a wonderful list. Thank you for sharing it!

The Momster said...

I've always been blessed to having a prayer mom in my life. It touches my spirit to know that, even though I'm all grown up, she continues to pray for me and for my own family.
Thank you for including this list!

Anonymous said...

thank you so much for such a great resource!!!

Julie said...

I have this list too and use it to pray for my daughter. Though I don't always follow the day. What a great way to remember to pray for our little ones! Thank you for sharing this!
Julie

Audra Krell said...

This is a great link, thank you for sharing. Your blog looks really good, interesting content keeps everyone coming back...way to go!

HomeSchool Mommy said...

Praying is the BEST thing we can do for our children, I believe. This is great!

Lisa @ illuminatephotos.com said...

Hey girl! I found you through WFMW and just wanted to drop you a note in gratitude for this idea/list. My son is 21 months and his little personality is really starting to show. So I'm really looking forward to starting to pray for him to become a man after God's own heart. I can't wait to share this with my husband and our church's online moms group! Thanks so much & God bless you!

Anonymous said...

I somehow got a hold of a calendar that has these specific things to pray for on certain days. My none year old son always asks, " mom, you need to get that thing and pray over me." :)

Michelle said...

Thank you so much Becky! I'm printing it off now! Michelle

Life on 7th Avenue said...

Thank you for posting this. We are currently in the process of bringing our first child home from Korea. I already pray for him daily, but this gives me some more direction.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much. I am going to print this off and start using it to pray for my three children (one son and 2 girls) I know that as a mother there is nothing more important or more vital than praying for my kids each and every day. Thanks for this encouragement and practical way to do so.

Anonymous said...

Me again. Just wanted to let you know I left a link to this post in my comments section of my weekend thoughts post today. You can check it out here.

Delete said...

Becky-

This list is amazing! I think I'm going to try to make a calendar page with all the verses on it. Thank you so much for sharing this.

Jenna