Having my first baby was the most earth-shattering event I had ever experienced.
My world was rocked like never before.
I struggled to cope with the fact that my life was not my own anymore.
(Not that it ever should’ve been in the first place, but that’s where my heart was at the time.)
I was also gripped with an awareness of the high calling of motherhood. The responsibility I now bore for the existence and well-being of another life – a completely helpless, innocent little one.
It was a stunning new reality for me.
If you have little ones, and you can identify with these kinds of feelings, you’ll be blessed and strengthened by praying the Scriptures below.
If you’re a grandparent, an aunt or uncle, or the friend of parents with little ones, would you take some time to offer these to the Lord on their behalf?
There’s no one else who can help them like He can. No one else who can provide everything they need. No one else who can pick them up and hold them in His hand on their hardest days.
Prayers for Parents of Little Ones
Praise God for calling you His workmanship – a work of art created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that you should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10). Thank Him that in His sovereign wisdom, He ordained parenthood as one of the good works He prepared for you before the foundation of the world.
Acknowledge before Him that there is only one God. Pray that God would help you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Ask that you would be diligent to keep His commands foremost in your own heart, and that you would teach them diligently to your children, talking of them morning, noon, and night (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).
Confess to God the truth that parents who don’t discipline their children do them harm, but those who love their children are diligent to discipline them (Proverbs 13:24). Ask the Lord for the grace you need to discipline your children and to reject your natural urge to indulge them.
Pray that God would help you to discipline yourself and keep your body under control, lest after teaching God’s truth to your children, you yourself should be disqualified (I Corinthians 9:27). Ask that He would help you to follow Him devotedly, so you can teach your children in a way that’s genuine and free from hypocrisy.
Ponder the tenderness of a LORD God who promises to tend his flock like a shepherd, gathering the lambs in his arms and carrying them close to His heart. Claim the promise that He gently leads those that are with young (Isaiah 40:11).
Thank God that He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. Spend some time contemplating these traits of your Father, and ask Him to develop these same traits in you (Psalm 145:8).
Claim God’s promise that His grace is enough for you, and that His power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). Ask Him for a measure of daily grace that will equip you to fulfill the task He has given you.
Pray that the Lord will enable you to remember always the works God has done for you, not hiding them from your children, but telling the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and His might, and the wonders that He has done (Psalm 78:4).
Ask that God would help you to be careful to keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but that you would make them known to your children and your grandchildren (Deuteronomy 4:9).
Pray that your Savior would empower you to train up your child in the way she should go, and that even when she is old she will not depart from it (Proverbs 24:6). Ask that God would help you to be sensitive to your child’s God-given uniqueness, training her accordingly.
Dear Heavenly Father, how I thank You for the gift of children! They are a treasure, and raising them for You is a sacred trust. I confess that it’s a task I am wholly unequipped for, if left to my own devices. But praise Your name, You grant me everything I need for life and godliness. Thank you for calling me, and for the promise that You will equip me. It’s in the name of my Savior, Jesus Christ, that I pray. Amen.
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Are you an expectant mom or grandma? Here are 20 Prayers for Your Unborn Child.
If you’re a praying parent, you’ll be blessed by these resources:
Monthly Prayer Themes for Parents (with free printable pack!) from The Brown Tribe
5 Verses to Pray Over Your Children (with free printable bookmark!) from Kaylene Yoder
5 Prayers for Your Son from Kaylene Yoder
A-Z Scripture Prayer Card Set (with printables!) from Arabah Joy