Do you know how to pray for your children? No, I mean REALLY pray for them. I am talking about powerful war room prayers that break strongholds and change things.
The kind of prayers that speak life, unity, healing, protection, and spiritual growth over your family.
You will be amazed at how things change in their hearts when you start praying specifically about certain issues. It doesn’t happen fast, but you will see God’s hand move over time in ways you didn’t think possible.
This post will show you how to pray for your children in your war room. I have written a few prayers for you to pray, but more importantly, I want to teach you how to create daily prayers for your family so you can do it, too.
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How to Pray for Your Children Using Scriptures
You can learn how to pray for your children using specific keywords. I have chosen prayer points (keywords) that are important to most parents.
Once you identify the right keywords, you can easily find the right scriptures to speak over your family members.
My examples don’t cover everything, but it is a good start.
1. Overall Prayer for Family
Lord, we ask for unity in our family. Help us to be of one heart and mind, bearing with one another in love, as You teach us in Colossians 3:13 to “forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Soften our hearts to extend grace and mercy freely, just as You have done for us. Where there has been a rift or estrangement, I pray for good communication and humility as we seek you on how to mend the fences.
Father, we pray for healing—emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. You are Jehovah-Rapha, our Healer, and we trust in Your promise from Jeremiah 30:17 that You will restore health and heal our wounds. Bring restoration where there is brokenness and renewal where there is weariness.
Lord, grant us guidance in all our decisions. Lead our steps according to Proverbs 3:5-6, as we trust in You with all our hearts and acknowledge You in all our ways. Direct us in paths of righteousness for Your name’s sake.
We ask for Your protection over our family, Father. Be our refuge and fortress as promised in Psalm 91, covering us with Your wings and shielding us from harm. Guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, and keep us from the snares of the enemy.
Lord, we surrender our family to You, knowing that You have a perfect plan for us. May we always seek Your will, love one another deeply, and reflect Your light to the world.
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2. Safety For Your Children
Here is a how to pray for your children regarding protection:
God, I ask for you to protect _______from harm. Hold him securely in your hands so the evil one has no access to his life (1 John 5:18). Thank you that my child belongs to You, and You will watch over him now and forever. I praise You for being there when I can’t be (Ps. 121:7-8).
I pray _________will make good decisions and obey Your commands so he will not put himself foolishly in harm’s way (Eccl. 8:5). Thank you that my child can rest in the shelter of the Most High. You alone are his refuge and his strength (Ps. 91).
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3. Fear
Here is how to pray for your children regarding fear:
Let _____sleep at night without feeling fearful (Prov. 19:23). I ask you to help her not be afraid of the terrors of night nor dread the nighttime darkness (Ps. 91:1-6). May she sleep soundly with great peace.
Lord, I ask you to help ________ not be afraid of any situation or person that may come her way as she goes about the day. Let her triumph over any enemies that may try to hurt her physically, mentally, or emotionally (Ps. 118:6-7).
Even though she may walk through the darkest valley, show her she doesn’t have to fear evil. Let her not fear because You are right there, standing strong, guarding and protecting her (Ps. 23).
This is how to pray for your family!
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4. School
Here’s how to pray for your children in school:
Jesus, I ask you to help ______ in school. Please give him favor with every teacher, coach, and administrator he will come in contact with during the school year. If a staff member does not look at him with favor, please change the situation.
I pray that all staff would speak positively into his life and that he would be taught by the Lord (Is. 54:13).
God, please help _______to participate in class every day. Give him a desire to learn about your world and everything in it. May he be a person of understanding who gains wise counsel (Prov. 1:5). Help him not to reject knowledge or forget your laws (Hosea 4:6).
Let____ take hold of instruction and never let go. May he realize wisdom is life to him (Prov 4:13).
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5. Friends
Pray for godly friendships. This is how to pray for your children:
Lord, I ask you to help ________pick godly friends. Show me who will be a positive influence on her life. Let me encourage these friendships and find a way for her to spend time with them. I pray she would walk with those who do not run towards foolishness (Prov 13:20)
If ______loses a friend, I pray you will comfort her. Mend her heart and show her that other people are waiting to be with her (Psalm 147:3). Send her new friends quickly who will love her and stick closer than a brother (Prov. 18:24).
May her friendships sharpen her as iron sharpens iron (Prov. 27: 17).
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Tips on How to Pray for Your Children
You can learn how to pray powerful prayers over your family that are designed explicitly for their needs. It is not complicated. It is time to do spiritual warfare! These tips will help you learn how to pray for your children:
1. Name the problem
Name the areas (prayer points) where your kids need extra help. Examples are lying, anger, fear, etc. Or perhaps you need to pray for your children’s health. This will be your keyword. For those of you with a family rift or estrangement, capitalize on that issue.
2. Start searching online
Type the keyword (lying, unforgiveness, anger, fear, health, or whatever) into your search bar, and then add the word “scriptures” to it. Example: “fear scriptures” or “anger scriptures.” The search engine will populate suggestions for “fear scriptures” or “anger scriptures.”
Click on the post you think might give you the most powerful scriptures.
Another idea is to go to biblegateway.com, biblehub.com, biblestudytools.com, openbible.info/topics, or ChatGPt and put the keywords (or commands) in the search bar.
It will give you scriptures about your prayer points.
Some online Bible tools have a sidebar with something like “featured verse topics” that you can click on for easier reference.
*If you don’t enjoy research, go straight to Proverbs and pray the verses. We all need wisdom! This is how to pray for your children quickly.
3. Choose the scriptures
You might ask, “What Bible verse should I use when praying for my children?”
I suggest you choose scriptures that are appropriate for your kid’s situation. Specifically, scriptures that speak life over them.
If you want a hard copy, paste these verses onto Word, Pages, Notes, Google Docs, or whatever you prefer. Or pray for your kids right then.
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4. Title it
If you keep the prayers for future reference (hard copy), make the prayer point (lying, anger, fear, unforgiveness, or whatever) your title, and then add the scriptures under it so you can refer to them daily and pray.
You may have several keywords (prayer points) about which you are praying.
Add as many scriptures under each keyword as you want. For example, “Fear” should have 5 scriptures about fear under it, and “Lying” should have 5 scriptures on lying under it until you have filled a page or two.
5. Print it
Print the document with your prayer points and scriptures. Keeping a hard copy is one of the best tips when teaching how to pray for your children.
6. Pray
Pray for your children using the scriptures you printed on paper. It’s not a one-and-done thing!
Keep praying fervently every day, no matter what has happened. Furthermore, you can use these verses as a family prayer. You can create prayers for your family to say at night before bed. This will teach your kids to pray, too.
7. Fast
If you see some particularly entrenched strongholds in your family, I highly suggest you fast. If you can’t fast by skipping meals, skip something meaningful to you like sugar, chocolate, dessert, social media, screens, etc. Pray for your family instead of eating or scrolling (Matt. 17:20-21).
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How to Pray for Your Children: Powerful Scriptures
Here are several powerful scriptures you can pray for your children, covering various aspects such as unity, protection, guidance, healing, and blessings:
1. Unity and Love
- Colossians 3:13-14 (NIV) – “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”
Prayer: Lord, help our family to bear with one another in love and to forgive as You have forgiven us. Bind us together in perfect unity through Your love. - Psalm 133:1 (NIV) – “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!”
Prayer: Father, let unity and harmony dwell in our home, that we may glorify You in our relationships.
2. Protection and Safety
- Psalm 91:1-2 (NIV) – “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.'”
Prayer: Lord, be our refuge and fortress. Keep our family safe under Your mighty protection and cover us with Your wings. - Isaiah 54:17 (NIV) – “No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me, declares the Lord.”
Prayer: Lord, we trust in Your promise that no weapon formed against our family will prosper. Protect us from harm and evil.
3. Guidance and Wisdom
- Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV) – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Prayer: Father, guide our family in every decision. Help us to trust You fully and acknowledge You in all we do. - James 1:5 (NIV) – “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
Prayer: Lord, grant our family wisdom and understanding in all areas of our lives, that we may walk in Your ways.
4. Healing and Restoration
- Jeremiah 30:17 (NIV) – “But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the Lord.”
Prayer: Lord, we ask for Your healing touch over our family—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Restore us and make us whole. - Psalm 147:3 (NIV) – “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
Prayer: Father, bring healing to our hearts and strengthen us in times of pain and difficulty.
5. Provision and Blessings
- Philippians 4:19 (NIV) – “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”
Prayer: Lord, provide for our family’s needs according to Your riches and fill our home with Your abundance. - Numbers 6:24-26 (NIV) – “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”
Prayer: Lord, bless our family, shine Your face upon us, and grant us peace in every situation.
Learn how to pray for your children and bring encouragement and strength.
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How Do I Get My Prayers Answered Fast?
I wish I could tell you that your prayers will be answered quickly. I recommend you get to the root of the problem quickly and start praying for it to be addressed. This is how to pray for your children.
Sometimes, you will get breakthroughs right away. Most of the time, deep commitment and intercession are needed before you see any fundamental changes. Don’t be shocked if things get worse before they get better. (Don’t look at the present situation!)
Some strongholds may be generational, especially with family estrangements. If you are not seeing movement, I recommend fasting. When it seems worse, you are likely very close to a breakthrough.
Whatever you do, don’t give up! Keep praying scripture back to God no matter what.
Prayer works. I have years of answered prayers to prove it! God will do the same for you as He has done for me.
Did you learn how to pray for your children? Share in the comments below.
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17 Comments
This is such a gem. I have been struggling with praying for my son obesity and its good that you say to get to the root of the problem. Thanks for sharing your site. Such a blessing.
All these prayers are amazing,lately I have been teaching my little man how to pray and he loves it,the god we serve is alive !
Soniachic, yes, he is alive! He is good, loving, and wants to have a relationship with us through prayer. I hope these prompts and verses will help you. Thanks for your comment.
This is such beautiful advice. I love how you provide an outline to build the perfect prayer!
Laura, thank for your comment. Yes, this is a good script to start with. You can definitely move to a broader script. Thanks for reading.
Thank you Julie for such a great post. I love the prayers because they are so specific. I pray to God that l would make praying for my daughter a daily habit.
Tinasha, yes, I try really hard to pray for my kids daily even though they are adults now. They will always have a praying momma. Thanks for your comment.
Hi, Julie, This is such a brilliant post. As a Hindu, I pray daily for my loved ones. But reading this post has made me realize that I should be more targeted in my prayers. I love that line ‘ you’re using God’s own words back to him’. So I have to restudy my Hindu scriptures to find the words to include in my prayers. Thank you for sharing.
Poovanesh, I am so glad this was helpful. I am not sure the difference between our faiths, but I do know that praying scripture breathed from God is powerful. I highly encourage you to try praying the verses and see what happens! I always appreciate all your comments. You are so sweet. Many blessings to you.
I love this! I’ve been teaching my two year old to pray and it is the sweetest thing ever! Thanks for all of the ideas.
Heather, way to go! Good for you for starting early. Making prayer a priority early will be a huge blessing in your family.
I love this. Prayer is my favorite tool ever, not just for my kids but everything
Fashncurious, thanks for your comment. I am so glad to run into another prayer warrior. Thanks for your comment.
I love the idea of praying scripture over our children. There is no better defence than to pray words of truth over them.
Courtney, I am so thrilled. I hope you will make this a daily habit. Thanks for your comment.
These are all so wonderful I never thought about these. I am starting to get back into religion again and am thankful to find this, thanks.
Susie, I hope you will start praying scripture over your kids. It will make a big difference in your family.