How to Pray for Your Children

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. How to pray for your family. To know how to pray for your children.

You just never know who you're tucking in under those Barney sheets every night. Could be the next president of the United States, a surgeon, a teacher, a pastor, a missionary which will take the gospel to the ends of the earth, a mom, a dad, a parent themselves, the parents of your grandchildren one day. The potential is just mind-boggling and whatever their age or whatever the stage they may be in life, there is a wealth of potential waiting, wanting to be unlocked in the life of every child. And the golden key that unlocks the potential of every child is the key of prayer. In Ephesians 6 verse 18, after a series of verses in which the apostle Paul speaks of spiritual warfare, he calls us into the battle and the battleground is the place of prayer. For verse 18 says, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

Yes, it's a battle today. It may be tougher than at any other time in history to raise godly kids and to be in the battle means to be in prayer. And God is calling forth parents today, moms and dads who will be prayer warriors holding the word of God, the truth of God in their hands and in their hearts helping the core values and the central virtues of our children's lives through spiritual development, through the power of prayer. Because you see, prayer does change lives.

And the life that you change and the lives that you change will very likely be your own and the lives of your children. And so let's talk this morning from the scripture as to how we can pray for our children and I might add, our grandchildren. We are to pray comprehensively. For Paul says, praying always with all prayer and supplication. Prayer is the general word which means variety of prayer, all kinds of prayer. And petition or supplication refers to asking specific prayer requests.

So what kind of prayers, if we're to pray all prayers, all these different kinds of prayers, what does that mean and what kind of prayers are we to pray for our children? The Lord's Prayer is not simply to be routinely repeated, though it can be repeated. But most specifically, the Lord's Prayer is an outline for prayer. And each sentence in the Lord's Prayer is a principle for our own prayer life. And so we see all kinds of prayer when Jesus taught us to pray. For example, that first sentence in the Lord's Prayer says, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. That's the first kind of prayer.

That's adoration. And then, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That's submission as we submit our lives to the authority of Jesus Christ and His way and rule in us.

And then, give us this day our daily bread. That's supplication. That's asking and receiving as the Lord has called us to prayer. And then there's confession. Because we are to pray according to Jesus, if we confess our sins and ask forgiveness, He taught us to pray, forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

That's confession. And then we're to pray for protection. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. And then we're to pray with celebration. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Amen. So there you have the elements, the basic elements of a balanced prayer life. Adoration, submission, supplication, confession, protection, and celebration. Now, how do we pray that kind of prayer for our children? Well, we begin with adoration, glorifying God, because that's where prayer begins. And certainly as a part of my own praying for my family and our children, I pray with praise to God for the children that He has given us. For the scripture says children are a heritage of the Lord and from the Lord. Therefore we spend time in prayer initially for our children as Jesus taught us to pray. Our Father thanking God for the achievements in the lives of our children. For the positive influences that have come their way, including the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. For their personal growth and their spiritual development, we praise God. We praise God for the times that He has delivered our children and blessed our children and forgiven our children. This is a time of adoration where we praise God for His presence in our family and in the lives of our children.

Spend time there giving thanks. And then we come to the Lord in submission with our children, praying and asking that God would rule in their lives. So often we want to form our kids, our children, in our own image. But that's not the goal of parenting. The goal of parenting is to help our children to be formed into the image of Christ.

First by trusting Him, then in growing up into full stature as Jesus grew up in favor with God and man. And that's how our children are to grow up. And therefore we should be praying not that my will should be done in behalf of my children, but that God's will be done for our children. Sometimes we as parents, we push our children.

We want them to succeed. So we pressure our children and we prod our children. But if you want your children to succeed, pray that your children will do the will of God. Don't push, don't prod, don't pressure, but pray that God's will would be done in their lives on earth as it is in heaven. Rather than imposing our agenda on the lives of our children, that God's agenda would be accomplished in them.

That is submission. And as we come in submission of our own lives, we discover that our own children learn from us what it means to bow down and to worship God and to give our lives in fellowship and fellowship with Him. But then there's another kind of prayer.

Paul said to pray with all kinds of prayer. So we pray with adoration for our children. We pray in submission to God for our children.

And then there's petition or supplication for Jesus said, give us this day our daily bread. Do you pray for the needs of your children? Sometimes we wonder and we worry if our children are going to be taken care of when all along God has said, ask and you will receive. Pray for the needs of your children.

Be specific. So many of our prayers are just so general. Oh Lord, bless the children.

Bless our family. Well that's a safe prayer. We don't know if God answers that prayer or not except in a general way. But when you begin to pray specifically for your family and in particular your kids and God begins to provide and you'll see Him provide for every need, you will recognize that prayer not only changes us, prayer changes things, prayer changes lives, prayer changes circumstances and God is honor bound by His word to hear and to answer our prayers.

And so we ask in faith believing. But not only He said all kinds of prayers. So not only adoration and not only submission and petition but we're to pray in confession. Now I can't confess my children's sin but I can pray that God would lead them to repentance.

And our children are weak just like we're weak because they inherited it from us. And we need therefore because our children fail and our children stumble and our children are going to sin against God we need to pray first of all that they will come to Christ at a very early age. That they will know Christ and the reality of His love and His forgiveness and His power. Jesus said let the little children come into be. And the best time a person can come to Jesus Christ is as soon as they know who Jesus is.

And recognize their need of a Savior. And so we begin to pray that they will know Christ and then as they grow up as they stumble and fall that they will recognize their need to repent and to come to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith. But there's another part of that little phrase about forgiveness. He said pray in forgiveness that our debts might be forgiven but also the debts that we owe others.

The trespasses against others. And so if you want your children to know confession and if you want your children to receive forgiveness then you live a life of forgiveness and be a forgiving person as well. And then He said all prayer so we are to pray for God's protection on our children. Now I dare say many of us are already praying that kind of prayer. That is a daring prayer and a desperate prayer that is so needed because our kids are facing more temptation more potential trouble and disaster than ever before.

There's a lion loose and he's loose in your house. The scripture says he's a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and the devil is seeking to seduce our children and to trip up our kids and to take them for his own. And in prayer we build a shield of protection for our children. It is in prayer that we overcome the enemy.

This is the warfare of prayer. And so we need to be praying constantly, Lord, deliver my children. Lead them not into temptation but deliver them from evil. Deliver them from those moments when they especially are in danger. There may be times when we're not even aware they're in danger.

But if we're praying for them, God will protect them. You are listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and his message, How to Pray for Your Children. Pastor, this month we have a special gift for our listeners who give a gift to PowerPoint.

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That's PowerPoint to 313131. Now let's get back to today's message, How to Pray for Your Children. When prayer is prominent in the house, it sets the mood and the atmosphere.

It sets the temperature of the house. And when you are praying, it enlarges your heart and expands your attitude and helps you to be positive about life and positive about the future because you're trusting in God. So many of our kids live in houses where everything is negative. I'm convinced, I'm convinced that the reason some adult children, church members, when they get out of the house they don't come back to church and many of them abandon their faith is because they've lived in a house that's negative, negative Christianity. And there's criticism and criticism of the church and criticism of other Christians and so forth.

And those kids are just constantly hearing that grumbling and moaning and complaining rather than rejoicing and praising God. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. We talk about IQ.

I tell you something that's better than IQ for your house and that's GQ. Not the way you look but the way you pray, your gratitude quotient. Are you living a life of gratitude? Negative Christianity is a bad advertisement for Jesus Christ. So pray with praise in your heart for God inhabits the praises of his people. And if you praise God and if your house is a place of prayer and where God is praised, then God's presence will be in that place. Pray comprehensively. Pray continually, he says, always. That doesn't mean that we pray on our knees moment by moment but it does mean that we have an attitude that is adjusted always to prayer, that we're just a breath away from prayer, that there's a God consciousness. Too many times we pray about something and then we quit. But we pray persistently because God does business with those who mean business. And God knows our hearts. We don't have to twist God's arm but God does know if we're serious about our praying. We're to always be praying for our children. You know a mother has a radar system. Have you ever noticed that? Attuned to the faintest cry of a baby.

Just this incredible radar. Now I know sometimes we guys, when babies cry in the middle of the night, we just, you know, we kind of roll over and say, I'll pray you go take care of the baby. But a lot of times I just sleep through that stuff and yet Deb would hear just the faintest rustle, the slightest movement, the up, taking care of that baby.

Why? Because her ear was attuned to the faintest cry of a baby. You know, mothers also have this incredible way to find out what you're doing. You ever realize that? I mean, you know, I couldn't get away with anything. I don't know how she knew that stuff.

I think she was just guessing on some of it. And the guilty flee when no man pursues. That's part of it. But you see, there's a sensitivity. And our Heavenly Father hears the faintest cry, the slightest call. And we are to be like a mother, attuned to God in prayer.

And the slightest need of our children, the slightest cry of our children. We're praying for them. We're taking care of them with prayer power. Then we're to pray confidently. For Paul said we're to pray always in all prayer in the Spirit. Now the reason I say pray confidently is because if we pray in the Spirit, there's prayer power when we pray in the Spirit. I say the prayer that starts in heaven is the prayer that gets to heaven.

The prayer is like a circle and it's not linear, it's cyclical. Here's God in heaven, God the Father who has something He wants accomplished through one of His children. So He by His Word and by His Spirit puts that on our hearts. He just sends it down by the Spirit of God, puts it in our hearts, puts it in our minds, puts it in our thought life. God sends down a request, some need, something that needs to be accomplished. God sends that down and puts it in our heart. And then we just close the circle by praying it back in the Spirit in the power of God. Praying in the Spirit.

It means spiritually dominated, spiritually directed prayers. That's one reason I often pray the Scriptures for my children. I take Scripture passages and pray because I know if I'm praying the Scriptures, I'm praying in the will of God and I'm praying the very breath of God, God's Word for our children. And we can be confident that God hears us because we may boldly say, because He has boldly said.

That's what the Bible says. Translates to confidence in praying when we pray in the Spirit. A little dad, a dad was down with his little girl praying those bedtime prayers. The little girl said, God bless mommy and God bless daddy and God bless my brother.

And God give me a new bike! And dad wanting to teach her about prayer said, now honey, you don't have to shout so loud to God, He can hear you when you pray like that. She said, oh I know that, but grandma's in the next room and I wanted her to hear what I wanted. Pray confidently that God will hear you. You don't have to shout, but you pray in the still small voice of the Spirit. This is what I want to call parent power. Parent power. Parent power is prayer power.

Because when parents pray in Jesus Christ, God moves. And as I said earlier, prayer changes lives. And the lives that you change will be your own and the lives of your children. Someone said, what makes greatness is starting something that will live after you.

That's greatness. Starting something that will live after you. And our children in His will will live after us. Long after we're gone, our children will be here and their children. So we need to be thinking not just about now, but those future generations. Our children and their children and their children's children's children. We can have influence over the next hundred years or more.

How? Praying for our children and our grandchildren. Because prayers are beyond this world. Prayers last beyond time and space. Prayers perpetually work in behalf of our children. For the scripture says, blessed is the generation of the upright.

Your prayers will still be working in the lives of your children and their children and their children's children. My grandfather Sims, I didn't know my other grandparents. They were wonderful Christian folks as well.

But you've heard me speak of my grandfather Sims. We lived with him and my fondest childhood memories were sitting in his lap as a boy. We'd sit on the front porch in the swing.

Whatever happened to front porches and swings? Sit on that front porch and rock and he would share with me from the scriptures or read Bible stories. And, you know, we'd count fireflies as we called them over there in Conway, Arkansas.

Lightning bugs. Talk about God's creation. He'd pray for his grandson and those prayers are still reverberating and echoing in my heart today. And my grandfather's prayers are still being answered today. Because he was a man who took seriously the call to keep on praying.

That, my friend, is power. We're to pray confidently. We're to pray comprehensively. We're to pray consistently. And we're to pray constantly and carefully. For the scripture says in closing here, be watchful to this end with all perseverance.

That's a term which means a soldier watching at his post. We're to be at our prayer post as though we were in a battle working spiritual warfare against the works of the enemy. We know that Satan is stalking our kids. There's humanism in the schools. There's a man-centered world view. Our kids are living around situational ethics, evolution, history is being rewritten, political correctness, sexual promiscuity.

Alternative perverted lifestyles are everywhere. And the only way we can effectively combat for the souls and the lives of our kids is in believing prayer, constantly persevering. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham. And today's message, how to pray for your children.

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Text PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional. Our website again is Jack Graham.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? Our children are the next generation. The future of your own family, the future of this nation is based upon our willingness to pray for our kids and to impart into them spiritual life and blessing. So the godly influence upon your children is best expressed through prayer.

You say, well, how do I really pray? How can you really pray for your children? Start by praying for their salvation. Pray that they would come to know Jesus early in their lives and that you give them every advantage and every opportunity by not just taking them to church but leading them to church.

Get them in a church where the gospel is preached, where the word of God is shared so that they can hear the gospel in Sunday school classes and vacation Bible school and camps and all the opportunities that are provided by so many churches to give children the opportunity to come to Christ early. So pray for them and then put your prayers in action by getting them involved in the ministry of a Bible believing church. Pray for their future. Deb and I have prayed for our children's spouses. We've prayed for their careers in advance.

We have prayed for the colleges they would choose. We pray into the future for our children. And as you pray for their future, you watch God's future develop in their lives. Then we pray for God's strength and power to face the onslaughts of temptation. So many temptations today, so many incredible evils that they face. Just pay attention when your children are watching television and see what's going on into their little eyes and into their little ears. And I guarantee you the world is bombarding them with messages that aren't from God.

We need to bombard heaven with our prayers so that our children would be protected from evil in these days. Show up for prayer every day. I'm a big baseball fan, Scott, and I love the stories of Cal Ripken, the great shortstop for the Baltimore Orioles, how he showed up to play every day. He played more baseball games consecutively than anyone in the history of the major leagues, breaking Lou Gehrig's record that they thought would never be broken. He just showed up every day. He wasn't the greatest home run hitter. He wasn't the greatest average hitter.

He wasn't even the greatest shortstop, but he did one thing and he did it very, very well. He showed up every day. He put on his spikes. He put on his uniform. He got his glove.

He took his bat and he played the game. I'm asking you, listener, to show up every day for spiritual battle for your kids, for the sake of your family, for the sake of your own future, for the sake of the church and the kingdom of God, that you would every day be at your place of prayer and that you would get done what God has called you to get done, and that is to be a faithful prayer warrior for Jesus Christ. So let's not just talk about prayer.

Let's pray right now. Pray for your children. Pray for them by name. Pray for them by need. Pray for them and ask God to bless them. Ask God to protect them.

Ask God to raise them up as godly men and women. It will make a difference in their lives. It'll make a difference in your family. It'll make a difference in your own heart.

And one more thing. After you've prayed for your children, let them know. Write them a letter or pick up the phone and call them and tell them how you're praying for them, that you are praying for them. They may be shocked. They might be surprised. But I guarantee you, they'll be grateful that they've got a parent who cares enough about them to pray and to call their name before the God of heaven. You want to be a player in life? You've got to be a prayer.

Pray for your children. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember, when you give a gift to PowerPoint, we'll send you Dr. Graham's powerful message series, Invisible, as our thanks.

Call 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. On the next PowerPoint, Dr. Graham brings a message about how God moves in mighty ways when his people pray. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.