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Families' Fridays


Four Daily Prayers for Your Children

Article by 
Chad Ashby
Pastor, Newberry, South Carolina


Our kids never seem to be at a loss for words. Even with tiny vocabularies, it is astounding how well they are able to fill any silence with a thousand little syllables. We parents are a different story. In homes full of questions and needs, it can be hard for our fried brains to put together even broken phrases. Sometimes I find myself stuttering as I try to talk to my kids — like I need a hard reset.
Especially with small kids, prayers can be difficult to lace together. We have a thousand requests for our children: that they would be saved, that they would learn obedience, that they would finally learn to eat broccoli, that they would quit hitting other kids in their class, and on and on. Where do we start?
I believe one of the ways the Spirit graciously intercedes for us as parents is by giving us prayers to pray from the Scriptures (Romans 8:26).
As I struggled recently to express my heart’s desire for my kids, one succinct little sentence from Luke’s Gospel kept coming out of my mouth: “Like you, Jesus, may my kids increase ‘in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man’” (Luke 2:52). Consider with me this Spirit-inspired verse, a perfect, four-part summary of our prayers for our kids to become like Christ in every way. Let’s examine each of these in turn.

1. Increase in Wisdom

Our children are little sponges. My son knows the names of every dinosaur that ever walked the face of planet earth. However, our prayer for our kids is not merely that they would grow in knowledge but in wisdom. Wisdom is a disposition toward God and a way of walking life’s path. In Proverbs, Solomon explains: “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil” (Proverbs 3:6–7).
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