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4 Ways to Pray for Your Kids

Sometimes parenting gets overwhelming and complicated, thinking of all the things you need to teach your children – and how much could potentially go wrong. But just as important as teaching, writes Tricia Goyer, is praying for your children. And she has found a catchy way to remember to cloak her kids in prayer – from their heads to their toes.

First, she writes, pray for your child’s head.

“Pray your children will always lift their heads to look to the Lord, and when they’re too hurt or discouraged, pray they’ll allow God to lift their heads.”

Similarly, in her Crosswalk article 12 Things Every Dad Should Say to His Kids, Debbie McDaniel encourages earthly fathers to instill in their children a longing after their heavenly father.

“If you are blessed to be a Dad, you’ve been given a priceless gift in this life. The gift of pointing your children to him. The gift of leading. The gift of loving. Your actions matter, how you choose to live makes a difference in the lives of all you know.”

She writes that every day should remind his children to love God, that God sees their inner character, and that Dad always prays for them.

Tricia Goyer’s second prayer point is for your child’s shoulders.

“Pray your children will learn to let God carry their burdens.”

In her advice on Helping Our Teens Deal with Painful Peer Relationships, Jennifer Slattery shares how she tries to encourage her daughter when she’s been wronged by a friend.

“…my daughter often voices the concern: What if the offender won’t listen or gets upset? In response, I remind her of Romans 12:18, which says: “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (NIV).

To paraphrase: I encourage her to do what she knows is right and leave the rest to God, because she has no control over how her offender responds.”

Sometimes reconciliation is beyond our control, Slattery admits, so we must teach our children to cast their burdens on God in times of trouble.

Third on the list, Goyer prays for her child’s knees.

“Pray your children will get on their knees before God often.”

This can be supplemented by Teaching Your Kids to Love God’s Word, writes Elisabeth Owens.

“How blessed we are to live in a time and place when we can easily obtain the entire 66 books of the Bible in our own language! We can do no less than share it with our children, teaching them by our examples and our words to learn it, to love it and to depend on it for direction as they grow and become responsible for their own decisions, no matter what their age. From the womb until the time they are young adults, there are things parents can do to help your child know, and ultimately love, Scripture.”

And finally, pray for your child’s (you guessed it) toes.

“Pray your kids will be connected to a community of believers who will keep them on their toes.”

Billy Coffey writes that he prayers for safety for his family every night. But one night he had an epiphany – that maybe he needed to pray not just safety over his children, but also boldness for them, when they inevitably face danger and uncertainty.

“…maybe instead of praying that God will keep my family safe, I should pray that he will keep us on our toes. Rather than asking that his angels stand guard over us, I should ask that they charge ahead of us into new places and new ways of seeing things. Maybe I’ve been tricked into thinking that my life is better thought of as something to be endured rather than made better, as if my purpose in being here is to comfort myself before I comfort others.”

What about you? How do you pray for your kids?

Debbie Holloway is the Family Editor for Crosswalk.com

Publication date: June 20, 2014