How to pray God’s words over your kids
Do you pray Scriptures over your children? Colossians 1:3-14 is one of my favorite passages to pray over my kids. When I speak the words that Paul wrote to his spiritual children in Colossae, I feel the invocation of God’s Spirit over them. What could be more powerful than praying words that God inspired himself? Here’s how to do pray God’s words over your kids:
1. Direct your words towards God. When you read a passage in the Bible that you want to pray to God, say the words to him. For instance, Paul says We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. You can pray this to God by saying, “Lord, you are my gracious father, and you love me as you love Jesus; thank you for giving me my children.” Already, you’ve put yourself in a correct frame of mind to intercede. (God loves you, and He is a good father. He wants to answer your prayers!)
2. Apply the words to your children. If the Bible says something like we have not stopped praying for you, you can re-phrase that into a prayer by praying, “Help me to continually lift up my children to you in prayer, instead of trying to control circumstances myself.” Then do it.
3. Intercede for your kids, using God’s words. For example, if the Bible says For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness, make intercession by saying: “Rescue them from the darkness and the enslavement of this world and its temptations. Intercept their lives through individuals and through conversations that point them toward You and away from this world.”
Here’s an example of how I pray this passage in Colossians:
Dear Lord,
I thank you for the blessing of my children! I ask in Jesus’ name for you to guide me as I point them toward you and your will. I ask that you would help them live a life worthy of you, to please you in every way, to bear spiritual fruit, and to grow in the knowledge of God. Strengthen them with all power and give them endurance, patience, joy, and thankfulness. Lead them in a lifestyle that qualifies them to share in your inheritance in glory. Guide them into kingdom-thinking, to love only things with eternal value! Thank you for forgiving their sins, inspiring them to change, and calling them to participate in your mission. Convict, encourage and strengthen them, and give them discernment and wisdom over all things–what they see, what they hear, what they do, what they believe. Speak to them and through them, with the power of the Holy Spirit. I praise you and thank you for what you’re going to do in their lives and in my life, as their mother, because I’ve been privileged to know them and love them. I ask all these things–believing that you will accomplish and exceed my wildest dreams–in the powerful name of Jesus,
Amen.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=col+1%3A3-14&version=NIV
first image courtesy of Portrait Innovations
