How to Say Prayers for Your Children

Prayer is more than talking to God—it’s a powerful way to shape your children’s spiritual life. When you pray for them and with them, you give a lasting gift of faith and guidance.

When you pray, you get to talk with God, but did you know that you are also modeling prayer to your children? They watch what you do. When you pray for your children, you give them a gift. Here are ways that other parents have captured little moments with God to pray for and with their kids, and what they’ve prayed:

A Scrapbook of Prayers

Every year, I ask the Lord for a Bible verse to pray over each of the children in my life, including
my son, niece, and nephew. I write this verse, along with the child’s name and the year, on an index
card, and then I tape the card to a place where I will see it every day.

I keep the cards from previous years in an envelope. When the children graduate from high school,

I will present them with a small scrapbook of the verses I prayed over them as they were growing up.

—Shawn King

Praying for Your Kids

Every year our church has a child sponsorship opportunity. Cut-out names hang from a tree where you can select a child to shop for during Christmas. It’s much easier for me to pick a name, shop for a present and wrap it.It was much more effective, however, for my teens to each pick a name and do their own shopping and wrapping. If your family can deliver the gifts together, it’s a bonus to see firsthand the joy of giving to others who have much less than you do.

Plan to Give

Sometimes we send unintentional messages without realizing it. From a young age, we encourage kids to make Christmas wish lists. They sit on Santa’s lap and tell him what they want. They look forward to opening the presents under the tree with their name on them.As parents, we can help to change that by simply changing the dialogue we have with our kids about gifts! We can ask them what they plan to give, not what they hope to get. By doing this, you encourage your teens to take ownership of what they give to others and be intentional with their gift giving.

Think Outside the Wish List

Talk about the needs around them: neighbors, friends, grandparents and siblings. Can they give one gift that doesn’t have to be wrapped in red and green paper but would mean a lot to a loved one?This teaches our teens to pay attention to details and consider what’s important or might bring joy to others. It also shows your teens that giving up their time and serving someone is a gift.

Budget for Giving

When teens get a job, they need a parent to help them learn how to manage their money. We helped our kids create a paycheck worksheet that they used to set priorities and decide in advance how they would divide their money once it was earned.Of course tithing and saving were at the top of the list, but setting aside a portion of each paycheck for Christmas giving made the cut, too. It might just be $5 a paycheck, but over a year that becomes a robust Christmas budget for a teen!

Bake Holiday Treats to Give Away

Brainstorm with your teens who they think would be blessed by your holiday baking. Then make it a family affair to bake, decorate, package up, and deliver the goodies.Encourage them to make a list of people who have to work on Christmas day, as a family you can make handwritten thank you notes to attach to the baked goods. Not only does it help them give back, but it creates a trend of thankfulness as well.

The Reason for the Season

It’s easy to get wrapped up in Christmas crazy and forget what the season is really about. When you pray before meals, thank God for the gift of His Son. When you shop for an Angel Tree gift together, remind your teen that we give to others because God first gave Jesus to us.Teens don’t respond to lectures as well as they do to casual conversation. Ask God to show you natural opportunities to talk about the real reason for Christmas.

Final Thoughts on Rethinking Christmas Wish Lists

Our teens grow more independent every day, but they still need us to lead them. The holidays are a great time to do that.My boys weren’t excited about helping out our elderly friend, but I knew their hearts needed the experience.

Jill Savage is the co-author of No More Perfect Kids: Love your kids for who they are.