Praying for Our Children, Part 1

March, 2003

by: Brock Bolde

One of my seminary classes this semester is The Biblical Exposition of Prayer. The more I study, the more convicted I become concerning my own prayer life. In its purest sense, prayer is communing with our Heavenly Father. Whether one is rich or poor, educated or uneducated, young or old — each of us has equal access to the throne of God. Charles Spurgeon has said that “prayer is the slender nerve that moveth the muscles of omnipotence.” In prayer, we see a needy and helpless human crying out to a generous and all–powerful God.

As I sit and dwell on the truths surrounding prayer, I want to challenge all of us to rethink our prayer lives, especially as it relates to our families. An often neglected area of parenting revolves around our need to pray for our children. By this, I do not mean that we simply ask God to bless our children. While there is nothing wrong with asking God for this, our prayers should go much deeper and contain more insight. At the very least, we must continually cry out for the salvation of our children. We must ask God to soften their hearts, convict them of their sin and show them their need for Him. As parents, our greatest desire should be to have our children enter into a personal relationship with our Risen Lord. This, I believe, begins with a parent's prayer.

There is much power in prayer. The question remains as to whether or not we truly believe that. If we do, we will become parents who cry out to God on behalf of our children. Being the depraved people that we are, many of us will come up with multiple reasons as to why we cannot pray — we're too busy, our minds are too preoccupied, we don't feel led to pray, etc. For many stay–at–home moms, the thought of spending time with God in prayer sounds nice, but it is simply not possible. Let me encourage you by sharing from the life of Susanna Wesley, a mother of nineteen active children, including the notable John and Charles Wesley. This godly saint seldom gave the Lord less than an hour each day for prayer. With nineteen children, you could imagine how difficult it would have been to find a quiet place, so she got creative. At her chosen time for prayer, she would take her apron and pull it over her face. Her children were instructed never to disturb “mother” when she was praying in her apron. I am reminded of the great truth found in Philippians 4:13 — “I can do all things through Him [Christ] who strengthens me.” All of us can and must make time for prayer.