Let’s Always Pray for Our Children!

On January 7, 2026, my daughter sent me a voice note.  In this recording, she was relaying the things she now does in her personal space that brings her closer to God.  As she shared how this transformation makes her life better, I had the biggest grin on my face and the joy of the Lord in my heart.  After responding to her with glee while acknowledging the work of the Holy Spirit in her, I started shouting quiet praises to God.  I walked around my home thanking God and giving Him all the glory.

And here’s why.

I was reflecting on our journey up to this point.

As our children transition at different stages – from pre-teen to teenagers and from teenagers to young adulthood – they struggle.  They struggle with many things that would break even the most seasoned among us.  Some of that which they struggle, parents/guardians may never know the half, my daughter being no exception. 

There was a particular season in her life where I can say, it was a tough time.  Though she excelled academically, in student leadership and youth advocacy, she struggled….  BUT GOD!

Jeremiah 29:11

New King James Version

¹¹ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

With reliance on scripture, we gingerly navigated that season of her life (and mine as her parent). I prayed earnestly to God and asked for His divine intervention.  I prayed in my car, in the shower, at work, in the supermarket, while exercising, while walking, while cleaning, while cooking, while lying in bed… I was always in prayer mode.  I was praying every chance I got.  It was not easy; however, through faith and tears, I persevered.  I am not going to say that I handled all of it as well as I could have, but I never gave up hope because I reminded myself that I had entrusted her to God as a baby, and I saw His work and favour in her life over the years.  I also saw the warfare.  Notwithstanding, she is HIS first and foremost, and I reminded her of that, ALWAYS.

Proverbs 22:6

King James Version

⁶ Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Though the effect of that time lingers, she is nowhere near where she was with that specific struggle.  She is navigating life as a young adult and student and growing in her relationship with God – amidst her many roles in the different spaces she occupies.  Today, I don’t just pray for her.  I pray WITH her.  She engages with The WORD and continues to be the prayer warrior she was as a little girl/pre-teen/teenager.  Today, she continues to grow in her relationship with her Lord God and Savior, Jesus Christ.  My daughter is like anyone of us: she falls, and she gets up, and she blunders will have to face everything that comes with life. 

Today, she is now praying and trusting God.  Today, she is becoming more intentional about taking care of her mind and understands its connection to her physical health.  She understands the place that God holds in her life and is working on strengthening her faith. She believes in her prayers, so when it gets rough, she knows what to do.  Not only does she pray with me, but she prays for me.  She also knows, beyond doubt, that as long as I am alive, I will continue to hold her up in any way I can, but especially in prayers.

Today, she also understands the importance of God’s Word.  So, she reads her Bible and relies on scriptures – the TRUTH – to see her through all of it. 

I pray that she always remembers who she is and whose she is when things get rough, because while we are on this earth, struggles will come. 

Parents, guardians, caregivers, etc., be encouraged that though our children continue to experience difficult times and navigate tough things that may frighten us, we should hang tightly to God’s promises of a future and hope for them.  Continue to pray for them, and trust that God will carry them through.  There will come moments when we feel like we have lost them, but we should not believe the lies of the enemy.  Instead, we should trust that God hears the cries of all parents who refuse to give up on their children during their growing pains.

No matter what, support them, provide for them, lead them, guide them, and continue to raise your praise.

Why should we always pray for our children?

• Praying shows them how to pray:  praying in front of our children will teach them how to pray. 
• Praying shows them the relationship we have with our heavenly father.
• Praying teaches them that we cannot do each day without him. 
• Praying also shows them how to show gratitude.
• Praying signifies surrender to God.
• Praying wards off the attacks of the enemy:  When we examine what is happening in this environment, it is evident that the enemy is after our children.  Every weak area in their lives is being identified and used as a tool of destruction against them and us. 
• The prayer of the parent builds a spiritual wall around them and keeps them grounded and closer to God:  When our children see that prayer is our default in good and bad times, they too will develop that mindset and soon that will become theirs.
• Prayer helps us to seek and rely on God’s guidance on how to parent:  any parent with more than one child knows that each child requires a different parenting tactic.  There is no parenting playbook.  Still, with one child, you need the wisdom to parent, despite ourselves.
• Prayer helps us to “count it all joy,” in the midst of the parenting storm.

One of the things she highlighted that she started doing several years ago to combat the impact of lingering negative emotions (and has given me permission to share) is that even when she is feeling low, she ensures that she keeps herself and her surrounding clean.  She does this, she says, because “cleanliness is next to Godliness, and the devil cannot reside where God is.”

Our children need us now more than ever.  The warfare is as real as it is intense.  Though we may be tired and sometimes disappointed in them and even in our responses to them, we shouldn’t give up.  Let’s guide them, love them, provide for them, give them grace, forgive them, and pray for them, in earnest.  And remember, we are now parents, guardians (aunts, uncles, grandparents/Godparents, etc.), because of the grace and mercy that God has given us.