The Words to Pray

We pray our children stay healthy. And safe. We pray they make the team, find good friends, and improve their grades. We ask God to make them happy, comfort them, and give them peace. We pray for their success.

We want the best for them. The problem is that we don’t always know what’s best for them. Sometimes, we can see that hardship and struggle build muscles and character. Occasionally, we can understand why God says no to their prayers to get picked for the honors class, get the date to the prom they were hoping for, or why they had to work harder for the job. We can agree with God it wasn’t best for them.

But other times, a no to our prayers seems too harsh. We have major blind spots when it comes to our precious little ones, and we often struggle to recognize their real needs because we think they are perfect.

We are certain God will hear our prayers when we ask for what pleases him. And if we know God listens when we pray, we are sure our prayers have already been answered.

1 John 5:14-15 (CEV)

Thankfully, the Lord knows. He knows our hearts and deepest motives. He sees the future, and how it plays out; like a chess game, he knows the consequences of the next infinite number of moves. On top of all that, we can trust he loves our children even more than we do.

Because of this wonderful God whom we can trust, we are able to pray like Jesus, “Thy will be done.” We can loosen our tight grip on control and let God choose how to fill our open palms. We can surrender our, and our children’s, lives over to the Lord completely.

Pray for your child’s every concern with a submissive heart and open hand. Lift them up to your trustworthy heavenly Father. Recognize his superior plan and pray confidently for his will to be done.

PRAY

Father God, your knowledge and understanding spans all of time to eternity–the very beginning to the very end. You know what is best for my children. Please hold them close and lead them in your ways. Amen.

TIME TO TALK

Conversation starter for kids: Provides you with questions and prompts to facilitate a time of applicable discussion with children to lead them towards knowing God and His Word more deeply.

Question(s): Have you ever wanted something that turned out to be not really good for you? Is there something you want now that might not be good for you? Or something you don’t want that might be good? How can we pray about those things?

KEEP IT GOING

Related passages: These additional verses will help parents expand their Scriptural knowledge and place on the armor of God’s Word to tackle each day. Swipe to read the passages today.

Matthew 6:9-10

Matthew 26:39