Praying for our children (and for us too)

"then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them." Matthew 19:13

It is imperative for Christian parents to pray with and pray for their children. It is our way to connect with God and present our children with our requests in whatever we want them to become. I want to share what I read in Pray Big by Will Davis Jr. on how we should as believers in Christ pray for our kids. There are enough promises and exhortations in the Bible for you to cover your children virtually head to toe in prayer. Aside from those, we can make use of parts of their bodies as our pinpoint prayer for them:

Eyes - Pray for what they will see in you and in the world. What we look at can have a huge impact in our lives. It can be inspiring or horrible sights. Let us pray that our kids eyes will gaze at things that will cause them to love God and not destroy the knowledge of God in us.

Mind - our mind is the key to the soul. We should pray that our kids will feed their minds with God's words and that they will have sound mind and the wisdom to know what is right from wrong.

Mouth - Another area to cover in your prayer is your children's mouths. James 3:7-10 says "All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be."

Let us pray that our children will always speak the truth and that they will learn the word commitment at a young age, so that their "yes" be "yes" and their "no" be "no". Include in our prayers that they will not fib, exaggerate or mislead and that they will always speak in love because this honors God.

Heart - In Proverbs 4:23, Solomon told us to guard our hearts above all else, for the heart is the wellspring of life. Pray for our children's hearts that they may become huge for God and His words so that love will pour out from them.

Hands - Pray for their hands so that they will be kept from acts of sin. May we teach them to raise their hands to God in worship and surrender.

Feet - Ask God to direct your children in every step and to run away from sin when they are tempted. Pray that they will trust in, believe in and commit to memory the teachings of the Bible.

Of course, we can also pray for ourselves too. Lastly, let us end our prayer with this - We pray all this for our sweet kids. Please cover them from head to toe. In Jesus' awesome name, Amen.