8 Prayers for Young Children: Make an Eternal Impact
Author Toni Morrison once asked the question, “When your child walks in the room, does your face light up?” Along with showing our kids we love them, we support them spiritually by praying for them. Today, we’ll explore eight prayers for young children.
Prayers for Young Children
Our prayers impact the spiritual realm. Praying for our kids can radically change the trajectory of their lives. I invite you to pray these prayers over your kids when they are awake and when they are asleep in their beds. God wants to work in the lives of your little ones.
8 Life-Changing Prayers for Young Children
1. Pray for everyday troubles to teach your children how much they need Jesus.
Above all else, I want my kids to find their hope in Christ. My first prayer for them every day is that their troubles 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.”
2. 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 Young Children
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 moms and daughters—and parents of boys!
As the parent of two sons and a daughter, I have a heart for helping parents develop deeper relationships with their children and with God. Our kids, ages 6, 11, and 14, share this vision. They have helped me write three family devotionals for parents or grandparents to read with the children they care about.
God’s Warrior: Devotions for Boys Who Want to Grow in Courage and Strength is for boys ages 5-13. Now, more than ever, our world needs men who are willing to courageously carry God’s love into the world. Written with input from our two young sons, Aiden and Caleb, ages six and eleven, this book will help the boys you care about find courage and strength in God. Find this life-changing devotional book here.
Devotionals for Girls
Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith is written for girls ages 7-12. It includes 60 devotions with Scripture, conversation starters, and a shared journaling section for moms and daughters after each devotion. I wrote this book with the help of our daughter, Bekah, when she was eleven. Find this one-of-a-kind shared devotional here.
Heart to Heart: A Mother-Daughter Devotional With 50 Devotions for Teen Girls is for teenage girls ages 13-20. It includes 50 devotions, each with a shared journaling section to help moms and daughters connect through writing. This is a great book for moms who want to communicate about awkward topics—like dating, sexuality, peer pressure, and more—but don’t know where to start. Bekah and I will help you right here.
All three books are available in print and eBook form here on Amazon. They are also free on the Kindle Unlimited plan, which you can enjoy with a free three-month trial! These books make great gifts, and you don’t need to be the parent of young children to read them. Share them with your grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or the young ones you love.
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