31 Powerful Bible Verses to Pray for Your Children

Being a parent is a hard job.  Oh, the benefits are wonderful and you probably wouldn’t trade this life for anything, but watching children grow, make choices, make mistakes, and become more independent can be moments that make you both proud and terrified. These Bible verses to pray for your children will help you focus your prayers on God’s promises.

One of the main reasons we pray for our kids is that we give God permission to work in their lives.  As you claim Bible promises for your children, you speak God’s words back to Him.  Praying Bible verses over your children also reminds you that God wants only good things for your children and He holds their future.

These Bible verses to pray for your children are promises about things we already know are His will, so we are asking God to work in our child’s life and fulfill His promises in them.  The following 31 Bible verses to pray for your children are Bible promises that you can circle in your Bible and pray over and over again.

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Bible Verses to Pray for Your Children

A couple of years ago, I read the book Praying Circles Around the Lives of Your Children by Mark Batterson. I was searching for a way to make my prayer time more meaningful and most of my prayers are centered around my children.  I wanted to be more intentional about using Bible verses to pray over my children each day.

In the book, Batterson encourages readers to actually circle the promises in the Bible and claim them when they pray.  I have been journaling in my Bible for almost two years and as I work through different passages, I have started circling those Bible verses that speak to me as promises for my children.

RELATED: Best Prayer Journals for Women

How Do You Pray for Your Children?

When you start praying for your child, it may be because there is a specific problem or need.  You may be looking for a specific answer to a situation, or are looking for wisdom for a particular time.

Begin praying for your children by simply talking to God about your concern or desires.  You can kneel down, fold your hands, close your eyes, and talk to God, or you can pray anytime or anywhere.  Talk to God about your concerns and needs while you are driving in the car, taking a shower, washing dishes, or write your prayers in a journal.  There is no right or wrong way to talk to God.

Start collecting Bible promises that speak to you and the needs you have for your children.  Write them on note cards and memorize them.  Print off the list and pray one each day of the month.  Circle these Bible verses to pray for your children and claim them on behalf of your kids.  God’s word is powerful.  Make these verses your own. Keep reading to see how to use these Bible verses to pray for your children today.

Use Bible Verses to pray for your children.  Insert the names of your children into the verses.  Write down your requests and watch the Lord answer your prayers.

RELATED:  Praying Circles Around the Lives of Your Children by Mark Batterson

Bible Verses to Pray for Your Child’s Protection and Safety

The following Bible verses to pray for your children are all taken from the New International Version.

As a parent, your child’s safety and protection are a huge concern.  You do your best to protect them and keep them safe, but there are things that are beyond your control.  Physical safety and protection are not guaranteed.  Emotional and mental safety is something you can try to provide, but there will likely be times in life when your child will make poor choices about friendships, activities, media, and much more.

As you Pray for your child as they go to school and make new friends, learn new things, and are affected by new influences, your job becomes much more complex.  Not only are you praying for their physical safety, but also their emotional, spiritual, and mental protection. As you pray and claim these Bible verses for your children, you are asking God to put His protecting hand over your child and their safety.

• Isaiah 40:11 ~ He tends his flock like a shepherd:  He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.
• Psalm 121:1-4 ~ I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven, and earth.  He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
• Psalm 28:7 ~ The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.  My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.
• Psalm 17:8 ~  Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.
• Psalm 125:2 ~  As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore.
• John 14:14 ~  You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
• Psalm 139:5 ~ You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.

RELATED: Beautiful Printable Prayer Journals

Claiming God’s Promises ~ Prayer for Your Child’s Protection and Safety

Lord God, I pray that you will carry ______ in your arms like a shepherd.  You love ______ so much more than I can imagine and I pray that you will be their strength and shield.  You created the mountains and hills and provide help when we need it.  Please keep ________ foot from slipping into bad habits, poor choices, or activities that will pull them away from You. 

Gather _______ in your arms and carry them close to your heart.  Lead them gently and keep them as the apple of your eye.  You’ve promised that if I ask anything in your name, you will do it.  Thank you for hearing and answering my prayers. 

Bible Verses to Pray for Your Child’s Future

Praying for the future of your child can be difficult because you don’t know what the future will hold.  But you do know who holds the future.  Whether you are praying for their success in school, a job, their future spouse, or whatever else you may be praying about, God is carefully holding their future. As you use these Bible verses to pray for your children, you are utilizing God’s word to fortify your prayers.

• Proverbs 22:6 ~ Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.
• Luke 2:52 ~  And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
• Deuteronomy 28:1 ~ If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.
• Psalm 37:26 ~  They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be a blessing.
• Isaiah 44:3 ~  For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.
• Ezekiel 34:26 ~  I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing.
• Jeremiah 29:11-13 ~  For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
• Psalm 1:1-3 ~  Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.  That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.

Claiming the Bible Promises ~ Prayer for Your Child’s Future

Dear Father in Heaven.  Today I am praying about ________________’s future.  I know that you have a most wonderful plan for him/her.  You have plans for hope and their future.  I pray that they will be like a tree planted by the water.  Help them produce good fruit, and help them to prosper in whatever they do. 

Send showers of blessings into their life that they can be a blessing to others.  I pray that they will grow in wisdom and stature but most of all, that they will grow in favor with You.  Thank you for hearing and answering my prayers!  Amen. 

Bible Verses to Pray for Your Child’s Salvation

God sent His only son to die on a cross for your child’s salvation.  He wants nothing more than for your child to have eternal life and accept salvation through Jesus. This is one area in your child’s life that you can pray unceasingly and know that you are praying God’s will.  Your child still has a free choice, but when you ask God to work on your child’s heart and mind, you are giving God permission to be present in your child’s life.

• Philippians 1:6 ~  Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
• 2 Peter 3:9  ~  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
• Isaiah 26:3-4 ~ You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast because they trust in you.  Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself is the Rock eternal.
• Exodus 20:12 ~  Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
• Ecclesiastes 3:11 ~  He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart, yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
• Psalm 141:3-4 ~  Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.   Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil
  so that I take part in wicked deeds along with those who are evildoers; do not let me eat their delicacies.

Claiming Bible Verses ~ Prayer for Your Child’s Salvation

Dear Jesus, You came to this earth to die for me and for ______________.  Thank you for your sacrifice.  Thank you for your gift of salvation.  Please set a guard over my mouth and keep watch over the door of my lips so that I will not misrepresent you to ___________. 

You have set eternity in our hearts and I pray that you will be patient with ____________, knowing that you want them to make the choices to follow you and accept salvation.  Thank you for beginning a good work in ____________’s life and I pray that you continue working in their life until you’ve completed that good work.  Help me not to stand in the way of this work.  I claim these promises in Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Bible Verses to Pray for Wisdom for Raising Your Child

As a parent, for many years you are the wisest and most knowledgeable person in your child’s life.  With that, comes a huge responsibility.  Your child didn’t come with a manual on how to train them or what to say.  There is no index to check on how to handle different situations.  There is no glossary with definitions of the emotions and challenges you will feel at different times in your parenting journey.

You need wisdom.  You need patience and you probably need it right now!  God has the answers to your needs and He has a ready supply of both wisdom and patience.

• Proverbs 22:6 ~ Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.
• 1 John 5:14-15 ~ This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
• 2 Corinthians 12:9 ~ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
• 1 Peter 5:6-7 ~  Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
• Matthew 11:28-30 ~ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
• Hebrews 4:16 ~  Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
• Galatians 6:9 ~  Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
• Joshua 24:15 ~  But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
• Matthew 7:7 ~  “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
• Joshua 1:9 ~ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
• Psalm 20:4 ~ May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.
• Isaiah 41:10 ~  So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Prayer for Wisdom and Patience ~ Using Bible Verses and Promises

Father in Heaven, Today I’m short on wisdom and even shorter on patience.  I’m tired and emotionally drained.  I love being a mom, but some days it is so much work.  You have commanded me to be strong and courageous and I’m trying to hold on.  Thank you for being my Lord and for being with me wherever I go.  Thank you for promising to strengthen and help me.  Please hold me up, just now, with your righteous right hand.  Your strong arm! 

Today, I am choosing to serve you.  Help me teach __________ to serve You too.  Thank you for Your grace and that it is sufficient for me today.  I praise you for promising to hear and answer my prayers.  Thank You for multiplying my abilities and covering my weaknesses with your grace and forgiveness.  I am knocking and waiting for You to open the door.  In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Joshua 23:14 ~  “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.

You have a small start to your collection of Bible verses to pray for your children.  If you’d like some additional verses for more specific areas of your child’s life, you can find more Bible Verses to Pray for Your Children.

As you pray for your children, write down the answers to prayer that you witness.  Sometimes, you may feel like Elijah when he prayed for rain 7 times and didn’t get an answer until the 7th time.  Even if you don’t see an immediate answer, God hears your heart cries and He loves your children so much that He sent His son to save them.  His love is so much deeper than yours will ever be.

One thing I’ve learned through praying for my family is that I don’t have to convince God that He needs to save them.  He’s already prepared the way for that and wants nothing less than that for each one of us.

Have courage, my friend.  You are sitting in a special place with the opportunity to pray blessings into the lives of your children.  Start Praying Circles Around the Lives of Your Children today. 

You may love these Bible Verse Love Notes for Kids to remind them that you love them and so does God!

You may also like these Biblical parenting links…

• Tips for Sitting in Church with Kids
• Bedtime Prayers – Creating an Evening Routine
• 52 Memory Verses for Kids to Memorize
• Family Worship Ideas with Kids
• Morning Prayers for Families
• Teaching Kids to Pray
• 9 Powerful Prayers for Your Daughter

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