“Lord, I prayed for this child, and You have granted me what I asked of You.” 1 Samuel 1:27
As the school year draws to a close, many of us are holding children and grandchildren before the Lord in a fresh way. Some are graduating and stepping into a new chapter. Some are simply moving up to a new grade. Some are facing new friendships, new responsibilities, new decisions, or new uncertainties.
And whether they are little ones, teenagers, young adults, or grown children with lives of their own, our hearts still pray.
Like Hannah, we remember that the children we love ultimately belong to the Lord. We have prayed for them, carried them, taught them, comforted them, corrected them, blessed them, and watched them grow. But we cannot control every step of their journey. We cannot be with them in every hallway, classroom, dorm room, workplace, relationship, or decision.
But God can.
So we entrust them again to the Father who sees them, knows them, loves them, and is able to complete the good work He has begun in them. We pray not only for their safety and success, but for their hearts to belong wholly to Jesus. We pray for Christ to be formed in them. We pray for them to know who they are, Whose they are, and why they are here.
Use these Scripture-based prayers as a guide to pray for your natural children, grandchildren, or the spiritual children God has entrusted to your love and influence.
Lord, what do You want for my children? Guide me by Your Spirit to pray according to Your will. I release them again to You. They are Yours before they are mine. Accomplish Your purposes in their lives. Work the life of Christ in them, and give them Your very best.
In Jesus’ name, I pray that my children would:
1. Receive and love Jesus as their Savior.
Father, open their hearts to know the love that sent Jesus for them. May they understand that You loved them so much that You gave Your only Son, so that by believing in Him they may have eternal life with You. Let salvation be more than something they know about; let it become the joy and foundation of their lives.
John 3:16
2. Make Jesus Lord and be filled with Your Spirit.
May my children gladly confess that Jesus is Lord. Teach them to trust You with all their hearts, to refuse the false security of their own understanding, and to acknowledge You in every part of their lives. Lead them in Your best way. Fill them with Your Holy Spirit until the fullness of Christ is formed in them.
Philippians 2:9-11; Proverbs 3:5-6; Ephesians 5:18; 1:23; 4:13
3. Know the true and living God intimately.
Father, give my children a deep desire to know You, not just know about You. Teach them Your names, Your character, Your truth, and Your ways. May they trust Your heart because they have come to know who You are. Let their lives be strengthened by intimate knowledge of You.
Daniel 11:32; Philippians 3:10; Psalm 9:10
4. Learn to pray and praise.
Teach my children to talk with You as their loving Father. Put praise in their hearts and on their lips. Train them to bring everything to You: their needs, fears, joys, questions, decisions, and dreams. Let prayer become their first response, not their last resort, and let praise rise from them because they know You are worthy.
Mark 10:14-15; Matthew 21:16; Philippians 4:6
5. Know who they are in Christ.
Let my children know how precious they are to You. Root their identity and security in Christ alone. Give them Christ-centered confidence, worth, and belonging. Let them see themselves as You see them and receive what You feel about them. Teach them who they are in Christ, what they have in Him, and what they can do through Him.
Ephesians 1:4, 7, 11-14; Colossians 1:27
6. Be protected from the evil one by the power of Jesus.
Cover my children with the protection of Jesus. Teach them the power of His death and resurrection to defeat every work of the evil one. Guard their minds, hearts, bodies, relationships, and futures. Let them know that greater is He who is in them than he who is in the world.
John 17:15; 1 John 4:4
7. Receive the love of God the Father.
Father, let my children know Your Father-heart. Give them deep assurance of Your great love. Let them experience how extravagantly, faithfully, and unconditionally You love them. Father them with Your holy love, and let them know that You are always working in their lives from love, for love, and through love.
1 John 3:1
8. Love the Word of God.
Give my children a love for Your Word. Cause them to treasure it more than wealth and to build their lives on it as their standard of truth. Give them understanding as they seek You in Scripture. Teach them to stand on Your unbreakable promises and to defeat every lie of the enemy with the truth You have revealed.
Psalm 119:127-130, 159-162
9. Hate sin and love holiness, righteousness, and the fear of the Lord.
Write Your Word on their hearts. Give my children a holy love for what is good and a holy hatred for what destroys. Teach them the fear of the Lord that leads to wisdom, purity, humility, and life. Create in them clean hearts. Make them wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil. Move them to offer their lives to You as living sacrifices.
Psalm 119:9, 11; 2 Timothy 2:22; Romans 16:19; Proverbs 8:13; Romans 12:1
10. Grow up into maturity in the Lord.
Build my children on the foundation of Jesus. Grow them in grace and in the knowledge of You. Make them aware of Your presence and conform them to the likeness of Christ. Establish them in wisdom, favor, truth, love, life, faith, strength, and thanksgiving.
Luke 2:52; Ephesians 4:15; Colossians 2:6-7
11. Honor God with their bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit.
Teach my children that their bodies belong to You. Let them honor You with purity, stewardship, and surrender. Help them understand the great price Jesus paid for them, and let that love shape the way they live in their bodies, choices, habits, and relationships.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 12:1-2
12. Respect those in authority.
Give my children humble and teachable hearts toward the authorities You place in their lives for their good. Teach them obedience, honor, and wisdom. Guard them from rebellion, resentment, and pride. Give them joyful, grateful hearts as they learn to submit rightly and trust You deeply.
Romans 13:1; Ephesians 6:1; Colossians 3:22-25
13. Have healthy, edifying, wise friendships.
Surround my children with righteous companions and wise friends. Give them relationships that are true, wholesome, loyal, and mutually encouraging. Give them discernment to choose friendships that honor You and courage to walk away from relationships that pull them from Your best. Make them the kind of friend who reflects Jesus.
Psalm 119:63; John 15:13-14
14. Know the truth and renew their minds in God’s Word.
Let my children know Your truth in their hearts as well as their minds. Help them build their lives on truth instead of the enemy’s lies. Lead them into the freedom Jesus died to give them. Teach them to renew their minds daily and to set their thoughts on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy.
John 8:32; Romans 12:2; Philippians 4:8
15. Walk wisely in the ways and wisdom of God.
Teach my children to commit everything they do to You. Show them the blessing of obedience and the beauty of putting You first. Let their actions reflect Your goodness, righteousness, truth, and wisdom. Day by day, fulfill all Your will for them.
Psalm 37:4-6; Proverbs 3:5-6; Ephesians 5:8-10, 15-17
16. Have the joy of the Lord.
Be the joy of my children. Fill them with joy that is deeper than circumstances and stronger than the world’s pleasures. Let Your joy be their strength, their song, and their steady place. Teach them to rejoice in You always because You are always near.
Philippians 4:4; Nehemiah 8:10
17. Seek to please God and serve others.
Give my children hearts that desire to please You above all. Free them from living for the approval of people or the demands of self. Make them servants like Jesus, who did not come to be served but to serve. Let their thoughts, words, attitudes, and actions be pleasing in Your sight.
Matthew 4:10; Psalm 19:14; Mark 10:43-45
18. Recognize the enemy and resist him victoriously.
Give my children discernment to recognize the enemy’s tactics. Teach them not to entertain his lies or be trapped by his snares. Train them to submit humbly to You and resist the evil one in the strength and resurrection power of Jesus. Clothe them in Your armor for every spiritual battle.
2 Corinthians 2:11; James 4:7; Ephesians 6:10
19. Maintain their first-love devotion to Jesus.
Let Jesus be the first love of my children. Give them a holy passion for Him. Cause them to love Him with all their heart, soul, strength, and mind. May they prize His affection above every competing affection and press on to know Him, follow Him, and belong wholly to Him.
Philippians 3:13-14; Luke 10:27
20. Walk in God’s best for their future relationships and calling.
Father, prepare my children for the relationships, assignments, and callings You have ordained for them. If marriage is part of Your plan, prepare them and their future spouse to walk together in obedience, honor, purity, and love. Develop the character of Jesus in them. Let their lives, whether single or married, be a testimony of Your goodness, wisdom, and faithfulness. Bless them with Your best.
Proverbs 12:4; Proverbs 31:10; Psalm 112:1-2
Lord, I entrust my children to You again. Where I am anxious, teach me to trust. Where I want to control, teach me to surrender. Where I feel afraid, remind me that You love them more than I do.
Thank You that You are the God of every season, every transition, every ending, and every beginning. Carry the lessons of this past year deep into their hearts. Lead them forward with courage, humility, wisdom, and joy. Hold their future in Your hands, and keep their hearts held in Your love.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
May the children you love carry the faithfulness of God from this past season into the next one. May they walk forward knowing they are seen, known, loved, guarded, guided, and called by the Father who will never leave them.
From Prayer Portions, p. 287-289
