Praying God’s Word Over Your Children

As mothers, there isn’t a single thing more powerful that we can do for our children than pray for them. 

Over the years I have experienced a shift in my prayer time for my children, moving me away from asking God for what I think is best for them and towards the realization that the most impactful thing I can do for them is to know God’s Word, join and align my heart with God’s, and pray in line with the will of God. 

This shift came at a very tumultuous time in my life. I found myself walking along a beach one afternoon totally undone. I was crying out to God about the situation I found myself in, begging Him to intervene for the sake of my child. Through tears I recounted to God the dire nature of my circumstances, explaining all the consequences that would enter my child's life if He didn’t rescue them. (As if He wasn’t already aware.) 

And then I said it… 

Embarrassment makes me barely even able to re-say it to you now… a sentence I thought was so noble until I heard myself. I said, “Lord, you just don’t understand how much I love them, I would die for them!” And without skipping a beat, like a true conversation, my spirit heard, “That’s wonderful that you would, but I actually did.” Ouch. To say I wept at the truth God lovingly responded to me is an understatement. 

It was at that moment that I realized that I wasn’t a needed component in God’s relationship with, or provision for, my child. My child belonged to Him with or without me, and with or without me God’s will would be done. And while I am not “needed” in the equation, I am blessed and privileged to be the one woman in this world to mother this particular child. In that moment all I desired was to align my heart, will, prayers, and every aspect of being a parent, with God who loved my child even more than I do and who, when faced with the choice, actually died for them. I realized how ill-equipped I was for the job and just how desperately I needed God. It was then that I started scouring God’s word asking the Holy Spirit to teach me how to pray for my children. 

Aligning our will with God’s

Jesus told us in Scripture that,

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. John 15:7

This verse is one of many if/then promises in the Bible. Abide is the Greek word meno (Strongs #3306) and it means “to continue, to endure, to live, to remain, to stay, and to wait.” And while we abide, remain, and live in Christ, and continue, endure, and stay in His Word, we are promised something. It says, “you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” 

So before we move any further, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page here about what this means, because we know that not everything we ask of God comes to be. The key here is found in the word “desire.”

Desire is the Greek word thelo, (Strongs # 2309) and, according to HELPS Word Studies from Discovery Bible,  it means “to desire, wish, or will, wanting what is best (optimal) because someone is ready and willing to act.” It is also commonly used of the Lord extending His "best offer" to the believer—wanting (desiring) to birth His persuasion (faith) in them. It is linked to the word thelēma (Strong’s #2307) which often refers to God's "preferred will.” For example, “His "best offer" to people which can be accepted or rejected.” Note the close connection between “desire” and “faith” (pístis, Strongs# 4102 - "God's in-birthed persuasion"). 

When we pray, we are invited by God to speak freely with Him. In fact, Hebrews 4:16 lays out the complete picture of who, what, where, when, and how we are to come before God. And while we can come to God with anything, complete freedom of speech, God also tells us that when we abide in Him, and His Word is within us, our will and His become aligned through that process, and His persuasion, His faith, is birthed in us—His desires become our desires and thus our wills are aligned with His. That is why, and only why, He can promise that it “shall be done for you.” 

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 John 5:14

To look at this another way, we can’t have hearts aligned with God if we don’t know Him, and we’ll never know Him if we don’t know His Word. Thankfully for us, Scripture tells us,

…for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:13

Even His will is put in us by Him. 

The importance and impactfulness of praying God’s Word 

• It is effective

For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:10-11

• It establishes us

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105

• It equips us

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

• It is eternal

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Matthew 24:25

• It brings us enjoyment

Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts. Jeremiah 15:16

• It is our equipment for battle

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Proverbs 30:5

(And the list could go on and on!)

How do we pray God’s Word over our children?

If you’ve never prayed Scripture over your children, I’ll share with you where I started. 

1. I picked one or two verses that were meaningful and significant to the needs my child had at the moment.
2. I inserted their name into them to personalize them
3. If the verse held a clear promise of God, I thanked God for His gift instead of asking for what He said He had already given. For example, if Scripture says God gives us peace when we’re anxious, we don’t need to ask and beg for peace, we can simply accept the gift He’s given to us by thanking Him for it. (i.e. Thank You, Father, that when I feel anxious You give me peace.)
4. I prayed the Scriptures I had selected over my child daily. Sometimes I did this with them, sometimes, I sat on the side of their bed or stood in the doorway while they slept, and sometimes I did this during my personal prayer time.  
   
   

A few examples to get you started

During the time when I was so worried about the future and the possible scars the situation they faced might leave, Jeremiah 29:11 was a comforting verse. So here is what I prayed:

I thank You, Father, that You know the plans You have for __________. I thank You that Your plans are good and that they will prosper my child and not harm them. I thank You that You are at work to give them a hope and a future.

Notice I didn’t ask God to “please have good plans for him/her.” I didn’t say that because, through the authority of His Word, He has already told me that He does! Wording matters and that is why we need to know what God has written to us and promised us, and what we can count on from Him. And see how adding your child's name makes it so personal. It reminds us that God’s promises are for all of His children, which means we can specifically name ours.

If your child, like mine, struggles with thoughts that make them afraid, the promise of 2 Timothy 1:7 is another must for you to memorize.

I thank You, Father, that You have promised __________ that Your Spirit does not make him/her afraid. Thank You that You have given him/her Your power, love, and a sound mind.

Or…

Cling to the promise of 1 John 4:18a.

Father, __________ has Your perfect love inside of him/her and I thank You that You have promised that Your perfect love will drive out every one of his/her fears. 

Over time my list of verses has grown. They’re on post-it notes around the house, they’re on recipe cards inside my Bible, and they are written on my heart. I am shocked that as someone who formerly struggled to memorize anything, this process has allowed me to etch many Scriptures into my mind. In addition to that, I find that sometimes the Holy Spirit will bring a new verse to me, one that I have read but hadn’t memorized. Truly proof that God does write His Word on our hearts. 

There is nothing that our children will face that there is not a provision for in the Word of God. And the beauty of being praying mothers is that we will raise up praying children. And when our kids hear us pray Scripture we are equipping and anchoring them to the only One who can meet their every need, the One who loved them and gave Himself up for them. Through our own prayer life, we can model for our children that God’s Word is powerful; that it is our refuge, our shield, our peace, our way, literally, our everything and theirs.  

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