Praying for Your Children, and Their Special Hearts

Have you ever struggled, wondering what you should be praying of your children? Me too! There are the obvious things, of course, such as their general health and well being, but I often struggle with the specifics of their futures. I don’t want to pray for things for them that God does not want for them. I might want my son to be a basketball superstar, and it might even give him a great platform for ministry and serving, but I don’t want that for him if it is not part of God’s plan. I have found that doing things outside of God’s plan for you can lead to a lot of heartache and difficulty! Then, a few weeks ago, I overheard part of a conversation between my 4 year old son and my dad, his Pop Pop.

I didn’t catch all of what my dad was saying. I have no idea what prompted it, but I turned to see Isaac with his hand over his heart as he said, “Jesus loves me, because he gave me a special heart.”

 

And my own heart turned to a puddle. I hope and pray that he always knows this to be true. I hope all of my children do. I hope that they always know this to be true about others as well, encouraging their friends and family members in their gifts and callings from God. 

You see, because they may not always be the same. Each one of my four children might have a heart led in a different direction by God. Each one of them may have a heart for a different service. Each one of them may be called into something the others don’t fully understand, but I hope and I pray that they each follow their own callings, guided by God’s wisdom, and without opposition or criticism from the others. They will receive enough of that from the rest of the world.

And then I found this verse. 

They each do have special hearts. It is our job to nurture and encourage those hearts, in following God and loving others. But what is important to note in this verse is that it isn’t about us. Praying for your children to be wildly successful and wealthy isn’t what they need. As much as I’d love them to be, acknowledging how much easier that would make their lives, that is not my prayer. My prayer is that they allow God to mold and sculpt their hearts into those that serve and love others the way that God would want them to. Those hearts are special, and it is all too easy to allow the world to shape them. My prayer is that God’s hands are the only ones doing the shaping, and that their gifts are used for His glory.

 

What are some verses you pray over your children? Please share! I’d love to hear them!