7 Things I Pray Over My Adult Children

I used to think that when our children turned 18 or 21, when they moved on to adulthood and out of our home, our parenting days would be done. Wow, was I ever wrong! Our parenting days have just begun it seems.

I've heard other parents say things like, "All we can do is pray." Well, maybe so, but isn't that the most important thing we can do as well?

All we can do is the most important thing!

Praying over our adult children is a way for us to express to them our love, support, and belief that prayer has power and it works.

Our adult children may or may not ask for our guidance as they navigate this difficult adult life. Whether they do or not, we need to pray for them. They need protection that we can no longer offer—protection only God can provide.

Prayer is also a way we can give thanks for the blessings that our children have brought to our lives and the blessings of future generations.

Sometimes, we have the opportunity to pray with our adult children, while other times we can only pray for them privately. Ultimately, the choice to pray for them and how to pray is an intentional choice we much make. I have often said that prayer is the most important tool in the Christian toolbelt. However, it is at the same time the most underutilized.

Let's be intentional about praying for our children and intentional about using that most important tool in our Christian toolbelt. Let me share with you 7 things I pray over my adult children.

1. I pray that they will grow to know Jesus Christ personally, completely, and intimately.
   
   "I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me." John 10:14
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2. I pray that they will understand the power of these verses, and claim them over their life.
   
   “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39
   
   
3. I pray that their lifelong journey of faith finds them only in the very center of God's will. And that they will find peace and contentment nowhere else but there.
   
   "Make me to know Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You I wait all the day long." Psalm 25:4-5
   
   
4. I pray that they will never look for these things (peace and contentment) in what the world has to offer them.
   
   "But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and it is certain that we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content." 1 Timothy 6:6-8
   
   
5. I pray that they will discover God’s all-sufficiency and provision for their daily life. That they will recognize the truth of James 1.
   
   "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." James 1:17
   
   
6. I pray that they will always find themselves complete in Him and understand who He says they are.
   
   "And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him." Col. 1:21-22
   
   
7. I pray that they will pass the truths of God's character and His steadfast love on to the next generation.
   
   "We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and His might, and the wonders that He has done." Ps. 78:4

The more I pray these 7 things over my adult children, the more I realized I need to pray all these things over myself as well.

I love that I can choose one of these 7 prayers each day of the week and be intentional about praying earnestly and coming boldly before the throne of God for my adult children.

​James tells us that "The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working" ​(James 5:16b). Prayer is powerful!!

"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16). We are invited to draw near in prayer to the throne of grace.

When our hearts are aligned with God in faith, He tells us to pray with boldness, expecting that our prayers will be answered. And, He promises to hear us! "And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us" (1 John 5:14).

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What are you praying over your children?

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