How to Pray for Your Child, pt.7

As Christians, we are taught to be loving, kind, and forgiving. But these attributes are not to be applied to our enemy, the evil one. We are never commanded to forgive Satan, or to love him, or to care for him, or to give him any regard, other than to be aware of his evil schemes (1 Peter 5:8-9).

Not only are we to give him no positive regard, we are also commanded to be aware of him so to avoid him. Before his arrest, Jesus prayed this for his disciples, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). Some translators say that “evil one” is not a reference to Satan; that it is simply a reference to evil. Either way, you can be sure the enemy has his hand in evil.

Your children are already on the enemy’s radar. He has most likely already been attacking them. He has his own evil plans and schemes for them. One of his schemes is to do all that he can to keep you from praying for your child.

Prayer works. It is God’s ordained means to accomplish his will through your requests, needs, desires, communication, and relationship with him. So, your children’s future, and their spiritual warfare is directly impacted by your prayer life as their parent.

Therefore, pray that God would protect your child from Satan, his army of demons, and his evil schemes.

There are so many ways to pray for this. For example, address specific problems you may see in your child, knowing that the enemy is seeking to expose and abuse them. Pray for a deeper relationship with God for your child so to defend themselves against evil.

If you are searching for a way to pray this for your child, praying God’s Word back to him is always effective! Psalm 121 is a great text that we can pray to God for ourselves, and specifically for our children:

“I lift my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made the heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”