You are lying awake with a child’s name in your head. Maybe it is a toddler with a fever, a ten-year-old who has gone quiet, or a grown son you haven’t heard from in weeks. You can’t fix it tonight. You can pray.
This is a prayer for children you can say out loud, with a different prayer for each need and the Bible verses behind it. Most parents search for a prayer for my children, so that is how these are written: plain words you can borrow or change. Put your child’s name where you see“my children.” Pray it as a prayer for our children if you pray with your spouse.
What Are the 7 Things to Pray for Your Child?
When you don’t know where to start, pray for seven things: their faith, their protection, their wisdom, their friends, their character, their future, and their peace. The prayers below take each one in turn.
- Faith. That they come to know Jesus for themselves and receive his salvation.
- Protection. Their body, their mind, and the places you can’t follow them.
- Wisdom. That they choose well when no adult is in the room.
- Friends. A true friend or two who pulls them toward good.
- Character. Honesty, humility, courage, and a tender heart.
- Their future. Purpose, work, and the people they will love.
- Peace. Rest for their fears and worries, especially at night.
The verses here come from the World English Bible. If you read the ESV, NIV, NLT, or NASB at home, the wording will differ a little.
Prayers for Your Children’s Protection
Every parent knows the pit in the stomach when the car pulls away or the phone lights up. You can’t go everywhere with them. God can.
The LORD will keep you from all evil. He will keep your soul. The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in, from this time forward, and forever more.
Psalm 121:7-8
Heavenly Father, I give you my children today. Keep them safe wherever they go: in the car, at school, at a friend’s house, online. I pray for my children to be safe in body and mind. Where I can’t see, you see. Where I can’t reach, you are already there. Keep the enemy’s lies away from their ears. Please help them know they are never alone. Bring peace to their fears, and remind me that you love them more than I ever could. I entrust them to you again right now. Amen.
A Prayer for Children to Grow in Faith
You can’t hand your child your faith. You can pray that they get their own, and that they grow closer to God each year.
I have no greater joy than this, to hear about my children walking in truth.
3 John 1:4
Lord Jesus, help my children know you, not just know about you. Let them grow in faith as they grow in height. Open their hearts to your Word, and give them a prayer life that is theirs and not only mine. When they have questions, give them courage to ask. Draw my children close to your heart through every season. May they always love what you love, and let them walk in your light. Help me build a faith-filled home. Amen.
A Prayer for Wisdom and Wise Choices
Kids make small choices all day that you will never see.
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach; and it will be given to him.
James 1:5
God of wisdom, my children will face choices I can’t make for them. Give them wisdom to see what is true and the courage to do it. Help them make wise choices about friends, words, money, screens, and how they treat people. Give them a true friend who pulls them toward you. When they don’t know which path to take, make it clear. When they get it wrong, be gentle, show them that your forgiveness is bigger than any sin, and bring them back. Amen.
A Prayer for Your Child’s Future
Parents lose sleep over what comes next. The Bible gives God a name for this. He is the one who provides, which is the heart of what Jehovah Jireh means. In Genesis 22:14, Abraham called the place“the LORD Will Provide.”
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6
That line from the book of Proverbs is a general truth about training, not a guarantee. It still tells you your job: point them the right way and keep praying.
Father, you know the road ahead for my children, and I do not. Go before them through different stages of life. Give them a purpose bigger than a paycheck, and show them the work you made them to do. Where I have to let go, give me confidence to trust you with them. Let their lives be full of your faithfulness in every season. Amen.
A Prayer for a Struggling Child
This is the one that hurts most. Maybe your child has stopped going to church. Maybe they are angry at you, at God, or at themselves. Maybe you aren’t sure where they are tonight.
Jesus told a story about a father whose son had walked away. When the son turned for home, here is what happened.
He arose, and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
Luke 15:20
The father didn’t wait with a speech. He ran. So pray, and keep the door open. Send the text that says you love them, with no lecture attached.
Lord, you know where my child is tonight, and I do not. Send your Holy Spirit to find them. Soften what has gone hard. Change hearts, theirs and mine, wherever it is needed. Put people in their path who speak truth with kindness. Bring them home, whatever home has to mean right now. While I wait, keep me from giving up and from fear that wins. Let them feel your love before they feel my worry. In this pain, I will keep praying. Amen.
A Prayer for Your Child Before School
School is where much of your child’s day happens, and where you can help the least. A hard test, a mean kid, a lonely lunch table. Philippians 4 tells you not to be anxious about anything and to bring it to God instead.
In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7
Jesus, walk into school with my child today. Give them a clear mind for lessons and a calm heart when things go wrong. Give them courage to say no when the crowd says yes. If they are bullied, surround them with someone who stands up for them. Teach them their worth doesn’t come from a grade or a team. Bring them home safe. Amen.
A Simple Bedtime Prayer to Pray With Your Kids
Little ones don’t need long words. They need a steady rhythm and a parent’s voice. Jesus welcomed children and didn’t make them wait.
But Jesus said,“Allow the little children, and don’t forbid them to come to me; for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to ones like these.”
Matthew 19:14
Say this simple prayer one line at a time and let them repeat it after you.
Dear God, thank you for today. Thank you for (name one good thing). I’m sorry for the times I was unkind. Please keep me safe tonight. Bless Mom, Dad, and everyone I love. Help me sleep, and help me wake up happy. I love you, Jesus. Amen.
Then add one line of their own. Before the light goes off, you can also bless them with Numbers 6:24-26.
The LORD bless you, and keep you. The LORD make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you. The LORD lift up his face toward you, and give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26
What Psalm Is Praying for Children?
The psalm most people mean is Psalm 127. It is a short psalm about children, and parents often pray it back to God. Verse 1 puts the work in the right hands:“Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.” Verse 3 tells you what your children are.
Behold, children are a heritage of the LORD. The fruit of the womb is his reward.
Psalm 127:3
You can read all five verses of Psalm 127 in a minute.
How to Pray for Your Children Every Day
You don’t need a beautiful prayer. You need a habit that helps you pray over your children daily, as a family in prayer or alone.
- Pick one time. The school drop-off, the first coffee, or the last light off. Make it a sacred space.
- Say their name. Say your child’s name out loud, and pray for your children’s lives one child at a time.
- Use a verse. Isaiah 54:13 fits on a card by the sink:“All your children will be taught by the LORD; and your children’s peace will be great.”
- Talk with them. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says to speak of God at home and on the road.
Don’t quit when nothing seems to change. Jesus said“that they must always pray, and not give up” (Luke 18:1). Ephesians 6:4 tells parents to nurture their children“in the discipline and instruction of the Lord,” and prayer is part of that.
A Prayer for You, the Parent
Peter wrote about“casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). Put your worry down before you pray for theirs.
God of hope, fill me with joy and peace as I trust you with my children. Give me patience on the hard days of parenting. Fill me with the power of the Holy Spirit so that I love them well and let go when I must. I can’t be everywhere. You can. Thank you for the gift of these children. Amen.
Questions Parents Ask About Prayer
Does prayer for children work?
Prayer is asking God, not working a formula. Philippians 4:6 invites you to make your requests known to him, and 1 Peter 5:7 says he cares. What he does with your prayers is his to decide. Parents pray because they trust him with what they can’t control.
What if my child doesn’t want to pray with me?
Don’t force it. Pray for them on your own, keep your door open, and let them see you pray. Children can warm up to prayer when it feels like love and not a lecture.
Let Us Pray: You Do Not Have to Pray Alone
If you’d like company while you pray, Jireh Bible & Prayer is coming soon to iPhone and Android. You can talk with Jesus by chat or voice, and open Kids mode for Bible stories for children.
Take one prayer from this page and pray it tonight, with your child’s name in it. Then let God do what you can’t.
