Monday, February 1, 2010

Praying for our Children

I'm sad to admit it, but a lot of my days include this prayer right around breakfast time:
"Dear Lord, Please do not let me kill these children today. It would be entirely too messy and I'd have to explain myself to many people- specifically a JUDGE. Amen."

Seriously, we do pray for our children and family every morning, but my friend Gina gave us this amazing prayer chart at Bible Study recently that lists a specific character trait to prayer for your child for each day of the month as well as Bible verses to correspond with those.

This is what it looks like:
Monthly Prayer Chart 1

Don't worry, I thought of you, too! Go to Scribd by clicking here to print one out for your refrigerator, daily notebook or wherever you will see it each day.

Please note that I did NOT create this. Full credits are listed at the bottom of the page and it is from Frazier UMC in Montgomery, AL {a wonderful church} and adapted from an article written by Bob Hostetler in Pray Magazine.

This is a great chart to use even if you don't have young children! You can pray for your current or future spouse, your friends or your family. All of us need these characteristics reinforced in our every day lives and who wouldn't love a little praying?

Speaking of prayer, one of the most wonderful prayers I've ever heard was about 4 years ago from my friend Jill's husband Casey. They work in ministry {so, he has an "in" with God} on college campuses {now at LSU}, but they visited our Sunday School class to talk about their ministry.

The majority of couples in our class had young children and he prayed that our children would come to know Christ at an early age {how had I not been praying for this??} and he prayed for our children's friends- that they would be good influences in their lives.

How powerful are both of those things?
Amazing.

I've already started praying for my children's spouses {is that spice?}, as well, so they will be able to put up with me.
I have a strange feeling I'm going to be a handful.

What do you pray for every day {for your children, family or yourself}?
Also, if you want to leave a prayer request in the comments section, I would be honored to pray for you and I'm sure everyone else would, too! {You are welcome to leave it anonymously}.

24 comments:

Jessie Weaver said...

I am definitely going to print this out! Many of my prayers lately are "please, let her go to sleep!" and "dear God, are you SURE You want me to stay at home?"

I do pray for her future husband--my mom always did for me--and that she will come to know Christ and live for Him.

Nancy said...

Hillary -

You gave me your business card for your blog at one of the UMW general meetings a few months ago, and I've been reading it. You are a terrific writer, and your posts take me back to when my now grown children were small. Great memories. Your post today touched me, and I had to comment. There is an international prayer ministry called Moms In Touch whose sole purpose is for moms to meet and pray for their children. It generally starts with school age kids and goes up to college/career groups. I would love to tell you about it. I am now in a college/career goup, and it is the best thing I do all week (and has been for nine years now).

Nancy Holmes

Mary @ Giving Up On Perfect said...

Why, just this morning I was praying for my sweet angel. And it sounded something like this: "Pleeeeeeease, God, make her go back to sleep! Please. I swear it's for HER good. SHE needs the sleep. Please. Please make her go back to sleep! For crying out loud it is 5:45! Please?"

I'm going to print out the chart now...

No Longer Newlyweds. said...

I don't have kids (yet), so my prayers might be a little different. Everyday of my life, I pray for patience...the patience to deal with family drama, the patience to deal with a stressed out/over-worked husband, the patience to deal with new employees, etc. I also ask God to soften the hearts of those around me...in case they need help or patience dealing with me! =)

ohAmanda said...

So good. I love the prayer about children meeting Jesus early. Wouldn't THAT solve a lot of problems! ;)

Well, you saw my post. I don't have enough brain power to write anything else witty in the comments.

Cannot wait to see you!

Stephanie B said...

Dear God, thank you for today because not everyone had a today and not everyone will have a tomorrow. Thank you for everything I have and everything I don't have.

And then I usually fall asleep. I used to think it was a pretty sad commentary on my prayer life that I rarely got farther than 2 sentences before zonking out. But lately I've been thinking (justifying?) that perhaps it's because I get a great sense of calm from being so grateful for those simple things.

Thanks for sharing the prayer calendar. I'll print it out and maybe it will help me get to 3 sentences! :-)

Jennifer said...

Thanks for sharing Hillary. Great post. I pray for my Addie everyday, and I always hope that I'm praying for the right things in her little life.

I printed it out and it's on my refridgerator! I hope it will serve as a reminder to me and my husband to remember to pray for our daughter each day.

Candace said...

love LOVE this! i believe if there is nothing else we should be doing consistantly for our children it's praying for them. sometimes i find myself praying the same things (which is not bad or makes them less important) but it's awesome to have a "prayer project" of sorts. love it. LOVE IT! thank you

Anonymous said...

O.K. So, I pray for M's tantrums and sleep issues and T's aggressive behavior towards others. I pray that J likes the work he is doing and for myself - that I will make it thru the afternoon when my darlings come home from school (i.e. Not killing them..just the same as yours.) I'm so glad I'm not the only one praying this prayer! I love the chart idea, though that may be too organized for me. Hmm. I'll try it this week. Thanks Hill.

Candace said...

meant to add: one of the prayers the lord layed on my heart about my boys is that they would come to him at an early age, & that they would see him, hear him & learn how to live in relationship with him at a young age. i'm 28, was taught a very messed-up view of god & it's taking a lot for him to peel away layer & layers of unthruths about who he is. i want my kids to see him young & know that it is him & understand his love for us. okay that's all.

(love this!)

Ivy said...

First of all, I thank the Lord for blessing me with this sweet miracle growing in my belly. Then I pray for the Lord to keep the baby healthy and strong. I haven't really started praying for the baby's future yet...im just still getting over the shock that there really is something in there!! I'm just SO thankful!

C H R I S T I said...

I love this chart! It is a wonderful start and would be fun to create one of our own from different bible verses each month. This gives me a ton of ideas! Thank you!

pcb said...

What a great chart! Since my kids were tiny, I prayed for the children who were somewhere, growing up, too, who would be their spouses. So far, so good, on that one! I have a lovely daughter-in-law and my daughter is dating a wonderful young man.

Mr. and Mrs. Nurse Boy said...

THANK YOU for the chart! I LOVE it and will be sharing it with my MOPS group this week!!!

We, too, pray for our children's spouses... They need God's protection as well in this world.

Mrs. NB

Michelle McArdle said...

Thanks for posting this! I had a post in 2008 about praying for our children I totally stole it off another blog, but it was wonderful.
Just today, at the Walmart Subway, I prayed out loud over our subs that they would please be sweet and quiet while we bought groceries. It didn't work... they were really loud enough for the whole store to hear. This helpful little guide will at least be more scriptual!

Mrs. Gray's Class said...

Thanks for the great resource. I often pray, Lord, to spite what I might do or say, please let my children be okay.

Unknown said...

Hillary, I love the post for today. I pray a lot for our family and I thank God as many times as I can each day for his blessings to me and to our entire family. I actually have a prayer request. Please pray that my 4 year old granddaughter will get the appropriate care she needs right now. She is so adorable and precious in our eyes and she's having some difficulites at pre-k and I ask everyone to please pray that she can overcome her difficulties and also that she will see God in her early years and being her relationship with Our Lord and Saviour. Thanks! Aunt Reba

Unknown said...

Hillary, I loe today's post. I pray a lot during the day for my family and me. I praise God as often as I can during the day for the blessings he has given our family and me. I have a prayer request for my granddaughter. She's having some difficulties at pre-k and I pray that she can overcome those difficulties and also that she will meet God at an her early age. I pray she will start a relationship with God at an early age and give praises to him for her blessings too.
I love you and your family, Aunt Reba

Rebekah said...

Lately I have prayed for my Nathaniel. I pray that he knows his great grandma for a long long time to come. I pray that he grows up to be an amazing, wonderful person. I pray that he grows past what his birthmom is, that he is a better person than she is. I pray that what she is and what she does...does not hurt his little heart too much, he was so sad today about her. And secretly I pray for her to change and to become a better person. All the while I am also praying to be the best mom I can to him, he is a very special little boy. Ok after today I needed to share that.

Anonymous said...

I pray for both my boys futures & that they come to know & have a meaningful relationship with God. I have had a specific prayer this last week as my husbands business is not doing well & the future for us is very shaky. That being said I am thankful that we are able to hand this all over to God because there is no way we could get through this without him! Thank you for sharing this chart!

Connie said...

Thanks for sharing the chart. Yes, my kids are grown (and believe it or not, yours will grow up too - no 2-yr old tantrums!). But, I realized when my kids were in their early 20's that things are just different, you still worry about them! Who would have thought? Anyway, I printed this out and plan to use it. Hang in there!

Connie Templeton

Amy said...

Love it! Thanks for sharing :)

Donna said...

Precious- I had one of these years ago and lost it- so happy to have another copy- THANK YOU! P.S. I have always prayed for my kids' spouses' parents' marriage. Make sense?

Karin Katherine said...

I love this chart. MOPS did something similar in a bookmark form.

I love your prayer over breakfast!
We've all been there. Some on a daily basis!
; 0 )

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