8 Life-Changing Prayers for Your Kids
I recently wrote my kids’ names on the front of my prayer journal as a reminder to pray for them every day. Much to my frustration, I often stare at their names and draw a blank. If you’re like me, you want to pray powerful prayers for your kids, but sometimes you get stuck.
How to Pray Life-Changing Prayers for Your Kids
When I feel stuck, I pull out this list of eight life-changing prayers and pray from it.
I originally wrote these Bible-based prayers at the start of a new school year, but now I pray them all year long. My hope is that these prayers will help you pray for your children as well.
8 Life-Changing Prayers for Your Kids
Whether your children are seven or 57, your prayers hold the power to shape their lives.
1. Pray for life’s struggles to lead your children to find their hope in Christ and not in external circumstances.
Above all else, I want my kids to find their hope in Christ. My first prayer for them every day is that their trials will lead them closer to Christ. I pray they will learn how to find hope in him and not merely in their circumstances.
Let’s pray for our children to lean into the One who will never forsake them.
Here is a biblical prayer based on the promise found in Deuteronomy 31:6, which reads, “The Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”
“Lord God, thank you for caring for my children even more than I care for them. I pray they will learn to put their hope in you instead of putting their hope in their circumstances. Thank you for promising never to leave them or forsake them. I pray that your presence will become their living hope even when life is hard.”
Above all else, I want my kids to find their hope in Christ. My first prayer for them every single day is that their trials will lead them closer to Christ. #prayersforkids Share on X2. Pray for your children to find their joy and strength in the Lord.
I want my kids to place their hope in the God who is always with them. I also want them to find their joy and strength in him.
Let’s pray for our kids to find their strength in the joy of the Lord. Pray they will not rely on their own strength as they go about life. Pray they will find deep joy in the Lord, joy that goes beyond circumstantial happiness.
This prayer is from Nehemiah 8:10: “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”
“Father God, thank you for being our source of joy, hope, and strength. I pray that my children will learn to experience the joy you feel when they draw near to you. Show them how to lean into this joy and find strength from you. Reveal yourself to them as their ever-present source of help, support, and strength.”
3. Pray for them to have the strength to stand against temptation.
When I pray for my kids to stand against temptation, I claim the promise in this powerful Scripture: “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Here is a prayer based on this verse:
“Lord God, thank you for the promise that you will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear. I pray that my children will turn to you when they feel tempted. Show them that there is no condemnation in Christ and lead them to avoid temptation and follow you in obedience.” 
4. Pray that God will provide like-minded friends to encourage your children in their faith.
As the Word reminds us, bad company corrupts good character. We imitate those with whom we spend time. Pray that God will provide godly friends for your children in every stage of life.
Here is a prayer.
“Lord God, thank you for caring for my children’s hearts. I ask you to surround them with godly friends throughout every stage of life. Help them to find other believers who will point them to you and encourage them in their faith. Build them up through these relationships and shape them to look more like you.”
Four More Powerful Prayers for Your Kids
5. Ask God to reveal himself to your children as they draw near to him.
God promises that when we draw near to him, he draws near to us (James 4:8). We can pray that our children will experience the reality of his comforting presence. When we encounter the Living God, we are changed from the inside out.
Here is a prayer to pray.
“Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the promise that when we draw near to you, you draw near to us. I pray my children will experience this reality again and again in their lives. Please reveal yourself to them. Be their ongoing source of support and the friend who never leaves them. I ask that they will experience your love and comfort in tangible ways as you build their faith.”
6. Pray for the light of Christ to shine through your child and your family.
Matthew 5:14 reads, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”
Pray for others to be drawn into the love of Christ through the light shining through your children and your family.
Here is a prayer for your children.
“Lord God, thank you for pouring your love and light through us. We want to carry your light into this dark world. Please fill these children with your light and love, enabling them to be vessels of healing and transformation in this world. Draw the broken into your love through the light they carry.”
7. Pray for God to unite your heart with your children’s hearts.
Ask God for a sensitive and discerning spirit to speak truth into your children’s spoken and unspoken struggles. Pray your children will see you as a constant ally and an ongoing source of support amid a chaotic world.
Here is a prayer for unity.
“Lord, you are the perfect Father. You comfort and uphold us when life is difficult. Thank you for your love and care. I pray that I might carry this same love and support to my children. Please unite our hearts so that they will see me as a safe place to share their burdens. Knit us together in your tender love.”
8. Pray for your children to find their identities in Christ alone.
As you pray these prayers for your kids, one of the most important prayers involves their identities as God’s dearly loved children.
Ask God to help your children find their worth in God’s love for them. Pray for freedom from the desires to conform to the world, prove themselves to others, or live from achievement-based identities.
Here is a prayer.
“Dear God, thank you for demonstrating your love to us through the ultimate act of love: allowing your precious Child to die in our place. I cannot imagine allowing my child to die for someone else. As I focus on this, I am overwhelmed by your love for me. I pray that my kids will grasp this love and be transformed by it as well. Help them understand the one part of their identities that can never change: They will always be deeply loved by you.”
Calling all mothers and daughters!
If these prayers for your kids blessed you, my 12-year-old daughter, Bekah, and I have a book for you. We recently wrote a mother-daughter devotional book to help mothers and daughters grow closer together while connecting with God. Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith includes 60 devotions with Scripture, commentaries from both of us, conversation starters, and even a shared journaling section. Multitudes of mothers, daughters, mentors, and younger women are being transformed by this book! You can find your free Kindle Unlimited eBook or buy it in print for just 12.99 right here.
