Praying Over Your Children
Children are gifts entrusted to parents, who shape their faith, character, and direction within the safety of the home. As children grow and step into the world, parents continue to influence them through intentional, ongoing prayer, interceding for protection, guidance, and spiritual growth. This spiritual covering helps children navigate life’s challenges and fulfill the purpose God has set for them.
The Bible offers a vivid picture to parents in Psalm 127:4-5 which says, “Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.”
This passage depicts children, not just as blessings, but as masterpieces, hand crafted by God, and designed for a divine trajectory. The quiver that holds these arrows, the physical space and spiritual environment of the home, is what protects the arrows until they are ready to be released.
God has placed each arrow – each child – into the hands of his or her parents for a particular season. But, without an archer, an arrow cannot fulfill its purpose. Its direction is determined by the person who steadies the arrow, aims it towards its target, and releases it towards its destiny. In the same way, parents shape the course of their children’s lives by establishing foundations of faith in the home, pointing them towards Jesus, and releasing them with a covering of prayer into the world.
When your children go out of the home and you can no longer guard them, whether that be at school, with friends, or into places of work, parents must release their bowstring. This release is the climax of the discipling, intercession, and love that has been poured into the child. Yet while your physical hands may no longer hold them, your spiritual influence does not end. In fact, this is where the intercessory prayers of a parent become crucial.
After an arrow’s release, it begins to take flight. As it flies, the arrow must navigate outside forces, such as the wind, unforeseen obstacles, or a slightly off-course aim. As children take flight, it is the job of a parent to cover them in prayer, not as a last resort, but as a deliberate and intentional act of spiritual warfare. Parents must pray that the Lord would protect them from the crosswinds of culture, peer pressure, and spiritual opposition. They must intercede with the Holy Spirit to protect and correct them as they navigate their course.
No matter where you are in your parenting journey, there is still more to do. Prayer is not limited by proximity, prayer is perpetual power. As I’ve often said, whoever controls the altars controls the outcome.
The prayers of a parent push back darkness, bring illumination to dark places, and alter atmospheres in the lives of children. While your hands may no longer hold the arrow, the mountains you move on your knees could be the very thing that helps them successfully hit their target.
As new seasons begin, new school years, new relationships, or new careers, don’t let children step out without the covering of a parent’s prayer. Prophesy over them, declare God’s promises over them, and launch them forward in their God-ordained destiny.
A few powerful verses to pray every day over a child are Joshua 1:9, Numbers 6:24-26, Jeremiah 29:11, 1 Timothy 4:12, and Ephesians 3:17-19. Commit to praying one verse over each of child every day and trust that God, who is a faithful father, will keep His children in perfect peace.
