Mommy Monday - Praying Over Your Children

Growing up I always knew that my Mom was praying for me. It was something that was always present and always a constant in my life. I had a Mom who spent her morning at the kitchen table with a Bible in front of her praying for her family. She prayed specific prayers over us. And now, as our family grows and expands, I think we all have a day of the week that we each are prayed over...and I think some of us might be doubled up now. But it's been amazing to see those prayers of my Mom's come to fruition. Mom used to say that she would plead the blood of Jesus over us that we would never get head lice. And not one of us did. Funny enough, one summer my best friend and her sister kept catching lice over and over again. They just couldn't get rid of it. And it seemed that every time I spent the night, a few days later they were finding lice. Kinda makes you wonder if you were the problem! But my head was always checked and we never had an issue. God cares about those small prayers we pray!

Going into my pregnancy, I knew that I needed to pray over my baby. I read through a book called "Praying Through Your Pregnancy". It guided the reader through specific things to pray over your baby like her kidneys, her eyes and the things she'd see in her lifetime, praying protection against disease. It was an excellent book and one I highly recommend to every pregnant gal. Already, I can see some very specific prayers that I prayed over Aubrey coming to pass. I'll just briefly share with you two examples.

The first was for her skin. Her dad has pretty great skin. It's clear, soft and just nice. My skin, not so much. I always prayed that Aubrey would have great skin like her dad. And she does. Anyone who holds her always comments on how silky smooth her skin is. There is not one spot of roughness on her and there never has been. She's soft and silky. I continue to pray that her skin will remain nice into her adult life. I pray against things like scarring acne and skin cancers. I ask God for his protection over such things. And so far,  that specific prayer, that I prayed repeatedly, has been answered.

Another prayer that I prayed over Aubrey was that she would radiate. That specific word - radiate. To radiate means to glow with cheerfulness and joy. To extend and to spread. To shine. And my sweet girl does those things. She smiles when people meet her. She's always been so happy to meet strangers. I asked the Lord to let my daughter radiate not for earthly attention but I wanted her to shine for Him. My prayer is that people will be attracted to her because of her countenance and because she emits a joy that is unexplainable. And for that sole reason to be because of her love and adoration of Christ.

Matthew 5:16 - "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

Philippians 2:15 - "...so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky."

Every night I pray over my daughter. I ask that she would love and serve Jesus all the days of her life. I pray a hedge of protection around her. I pray safety over her life. I pray against horrible things like murder, kidnapping and abuse happening to her. I pray against disease and cancer. I pray for her hands and the things they will hold and do. I pray for her feet for where they will take her. I ask the Lord to provide her with an amazing, honest, truthful husband who will love her all the days of her life. I pray for her children. I pray against infertility. I pray for her as a teenager that she would be friends with everyone. I pray that she would also have a group of good, solid, uplifting friends in her life. These are just some of the things I ask the Lord for.

I wanted to leave you with some specific prayers that you can pray over your children. I recieved this in an email before Aubrey was born and I cannot remember the resource to refrence it. But, I wrote these verses onto notecards and prayed over them every night before she was born. I still continue to do so. I'm going to share them with you so that you too can pray over your children. It's so vitaly important. Please make sure that every day you are praying upon their behalf - because Momma's, if you aren't, who is?

• Help ___________ listen to (her) father's instruction, and not forsake her mother's teaching.  - Proverbs 1:8
• May __________ have a pure heart, good conscience and sincere faith.  - 1 Timothy 1:5
• Show ___________ your ways, O Lord, teach (her) your paths, guide (her) in your truth...and may (her) hope be in you all day long.  - Psalm 25:4-5
• Hide __________ in the shelter of your presence, from the intrigues of men; keep _________ safe from accusing tongues.  - Psalm 31:20
• Help __________ to love righteousness and hate wickedness.  - Psalm 45:7
• Guide ___________'s feet into the path of peace.  - Luke 1:79
• May ___________ love the Lord with all her heart, and with all her soul and with all her mind.  - Matthew 22:37
• Protect __________ from the evil one.  - John 17:15
• Give ____________ the strength to obey God rather than men.  - Acts 5:29
• May ____________ be joyful always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances.  - 1 Thessalonians 5:16

And just because I can't get enough of her, here's a photo of Aubrey. She's just two weeks shy of eight months in this photo. (She just turned 8 months this past Saturday.)