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How To Intentionally Battle for Your Kids in Prayer

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Someone once told me “anything that brings us to our knees in prayer is a good thing. It brings us back to dependence on God”. As I’ve wrestled with that on and off over the years, one thing has remained consistent – my 5 children bring me to my knees in prayer more often than not!

I, like you, desire to be intentional in parenting our children. But in the day to day battles of strong wills, sibling squabbles, character building, teaching, parenting the heart and homemaking we can easily lose sight of the biggest battle we need to fight. A battle that is for, not against our kids.

Without a doubt, intentionally battling for your kids in prayer is one of the most powerful things you can do as a parent.

But why? Why does intentional prayer matter?

Mom, we need to recognize that we have an enemy. One whose desire is to destroy our families and our children. If we don’t recognize our need to battle the enemy, we won’t recognize the importance of intentional prayer.

God’s word warns us of this truth about our adversary:

1 Peter 5:8-9
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Ephesians 6:12
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

But here is the good news.

God has equipped you to be a prayer warrior Mama! Yes even when you feel like you can’t! He will give you the strength and power you need, through Him, to Intentionally Battle for Your Kids in Prayer!

Time and again He encourages us through scripture to fight the battle. We are to put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil (Ephesians 6:11) and remember that though the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy, He came that we may have life and have it abundantly in John 10:10. 

We have been given an amazing gift to be able to approach the throne of God with petitions for our children. He hears our prayers. Prayer is our direct line to our heavenly father who created our children, the one who knows them better than we do!

So how do we do start intentionally battling for our kids in prayer?

How to Intentionally Battle for Your Kids in Prayer

Woman praying intentionally for her child

As I’ve sought to become more intentional in prayer for our kids, there are 4 keys I keep coming back to.

#1 Start Intentionally Praying for Your Own Heart

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

Be open and humble. Let God to speak to your heart. Ask Him to show you any areas of misunderstanding, anger, bitterness, resentment or control may have taken root. Let Him help you turn those areas of struggle over to Him.

Step out in the confidence that you are seeking God’s best for your child when you’ve turned over all of your garbage to Him first!

# 2 Be Intentional in Creating a Plan for Prayer

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. Proverbs 16:9 

I may have the best intentions to pray for my kids but when I don’t have a plan, I fail. Plain and simple.

So as you’re seeking to intentionally battle for your kids in prayer, try asking yourself these questions to come up with a plan.

  • What season am I in? Do you have littles right now? Maybe tweens or teens? Or are your kids grown and out of the house? Your season should be taken into consideration when coming up with a plan.
  • When will I pray or how much time will I realistically be able to count on for prayer? What does your season mean regarding when you will pray? Remember this doesn’t have to be sitting down in your “quiet time spot” and praying. If you can, great! If not, it’s ok. You can pray while cleaning or doing laundry, when nursing or when running errands. The point is to intentionally think through it. Don’t leave it up to “if I have time”, make time and make a plan.
  • What method, tools or help will you use to intentionally battle for your kids in prayer? Will you journal your prayers in a notebook or purchase journals for each child? Will you use an app to track prayer requests and be sent reminders to pray? Maybe for this season, it would be best for you to sign up for a prayer challenge like the ones Kathie has PRAYING BIBLICAL VIRTUES FOR YOUR CHILDREN or PRAYER CHALLENGE – PRAYING BIBLICAL VIRTUES FOR YOUR CHILDREN!

#3 Find Accountability When Intentionally Battling for Your Kids in Prayer

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. James 5:16

Looking for accountability when praying for your kids will go a long way! Believe me, you want the support and encouragement of other like-minded Moms when you grow weary in prayer (it’ll likely happen). Also, it’s such a blessing to know that others are praying for your kids as you pray for theirs also!

Find support in your community group, your local church, homeschool groups or online facebook groups. You will be thankful for that nudge to keep praying when you feel like giving up!

#4 Be flexible and Continually Grow in Your Prayer Life

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. John 14:26 

All that being said, when creating a plan, we also want to have soft hearts (see #1 – wink). We want to be open to God redirecting our steps! As our seasons change, our time commitment, methods and amount of time that we spend intentionally battling for our kids in prayer may change too. That’s ok and even good! We should be sensitive to the Holy Spirit guiding us in our journey!

So Mom, can I challenge you to not lose sight of the importance of praying for your kids? It is the BEST battle you can fight as a parent! As you prepare to Intentionally Battle for Your Kids in Prayer I want to challenge you to take these steps and put them into action!

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Ephesians 6:10 

ACTION STEPS:

  1. This week pray for and prepare your own heart for the battle!
  2. Ask yourself the questions under #2 to help develop (and write down!) a plan.
  3. Find accountability.
  4. Start praying!

Download and use these FREE scripture cards to help you focus on How to Intentionally Battle for Your Kids in Prayer!

Click HERE!

Don’t miss the other posts in the series! Sign up here and get the challenge delivered straight to your inbox each day!

A special thank you to today’s sponsor Tricia Goyer!  

Have you ever wanted to read through the Bible but found yourself giving up? Or even worse, you read the chapters and at the end question how they apply to your life. Tricia Goyer understands. For years she felt frustrated that she couldn’t stick to her commitment to read God’s Word all the way through.

Things changed when she found a doable plan and wrote out a daily prayer. Tricia’s heart changed. Her life did, too. God can bring real transformation into your heart and life when you daily commit to reading your Bible and praying through God’s Word. Praying through the Bible in One Year offers a guided reading plan and a daily prayer starter to help you make God’s Word applicable to your life. Discover the inspiration for real-life transformation.

Commitment to Read the Bible Tricia Goyer The Character Corner

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Lee Felix of Like Minded Musings is a Faith Blogger, Virtual Assistant and Lifetime Encourager. Her heart is to encourage and equip Christian women to embrace the imperfect and grow in Christ! She is a Wife of 20 yrs, Mama to 5, Imperfect Jesus Follower, Unexpected Homeschooler, Avoider of Small Talk and a Coffee Fanatic. Join Lee in the journey through imperfect yet intentional parenting in her Private Imperfect Moms Facebook Community, get access to her FREEBIES Hub of Biblical Resources or connect on Social Media below!

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How To Intentionally Maintain Your Priorities With Prayer

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6 Day Intentional Living Challenge on The Character Corner

In day 1 of the intentional living challenge, we focused our attention on the importance of spending time in God’s Word and seeking Him.

Today we are going to look at How To Intentionally Maintain Your Priorities With Prayer.

How To Intentionally Maintain Your Priorities With Prayer

Consistency in your prayer life is just as important and vital as your Bible reading.

Why is being consistent in prayer so important for us as busy moms and wives? Because God can do what we cannot do!

We can work hard to love our husbands as we should, and teach and train our children in the ways of God, but unless the LORD builds our house (family), we labor in vain. (Psalm 127:1)

When we regularly and consistently come before the Lord on behalf of our family, we are acknowledging our dependence on Him to work in their lives.

We have the power of prayer available to us, but sometimes we don’t take advantage of it.

As a result, we struggle and make things harder on ourselves, trying to do what only God can do.

So why should we maintain our priorities through prayer?

1. The battle for our kids and our marriage is fought by intentionally battling in prayer.

When we don’t pray for our family, it is as though we are sitting on the sidelines watching them in a war zone getting shot at from every angle.

However, when we DO pray using God’s Word as our weapon, it’s like we are in the battle right beside them, appropriating God’s power on their behalf.

When we pray for our husband or children, we need to do it as though we are interceding for their life, because that is what we are doing as we are fighting the enemy.

We have to remember that we are in a spiritual battle, which we can not win on our own.

Satan would like nothing more than to destroy our families.

2. When we regularly pray for our family, we are acknowledging our dependence on Him to work in their lives.

As a result of intentionally maintaining a priority of prayer and dependence on God:

  • He will work in their hearts and lives.
  • We will develop an even GREATER dependence on Him.
  • Their spiritual growth will become more important in our daily priorities.

3. The power of God will penetrate their lives as we pray.

To make our prayers more powerful and effective, we need to use God’s Word as our weapon. 

When we declare His Word as we pray, we have a powerful weapon no enemy can prevail against. (Hebrews 4:12)

Today’s challenge is to maintain your priorities with prayer:

1. Take time to think and pray about the individual, specific, needs of each of your children, as well as your spouse.

Create a prayer journal with a page for your spouse & each child.  List their needs, as well as concerns you have about

them that you want to remember to pray about.

2. Find Scriptures to pray for your spouse and children.

Create a section in your prayer journal to write the verses that you want to use.

3. Pick a specific time to pray daily.

Make an appointment with God, and KEEP it.

So what about you Mom?

Are you tired of living in overwhelm and feeling like your always two steps behind?

Do you have a nagging feeling you’re not making the best use of your time…. but you don’t know where to start?

I understand. I’ve been there! But Mom, stepping out of overwhelm is possible. The secret is intentional living!

To start living more intentionally today, I encourage you to join me for my Intentional Living Course.

The videos and workbooks will give you an in-depth look at how to develop clear God-focused goals for your life.

It will help you layout the steps you need to be intentional in key areas such as:

– Your relationship with God
– Better relationships in your family
– Managing your home efficiently
– Making the best use of your time
-Maintaining your priorities through intentional prayer

It IS possible to live life with more purpose and meaning, as well as more peace and success tomorrow!

Start now with a special discount of $20 off using coupon code Intentional20. (Offer good through 1/25/20)

GET THE DETAILS HERE!

Don’t miss the other days in the 6 Day Intentional Living Challenge!

 

 

**Praying For My Homeschool Prayer Journal

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Praying faithfully over your homeschool is even more important than choosing a curriculum, or coming up with the perfect schedule. Prayer is vital to all areas of your homeschool.

As homeschooling parents, we have to remember that homeschooling is a lifestyle, and involves much more than academics. We cannot diligently train, instruct and educate our children in our own strength or wisdom.

We need God’s guidance as we try to fulfill our responsibility to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We also need Him to work in the hearts of our children as we teach and train them.

Having a plan is the first step into praying faithfully over your homeschool! This journal is your plan and will guide you into meaningful prayers that make a difference.

◊◊ Instant Download Digital Copy ◊◊

Please Note: This is not a physical item

 

Plan a successful homeschool year in 5 easy steps

There are 3 sections in the journal:

  • 10 Days of Specific Prayers For Your Homeschool
  • 10 Days of Scripture Prayers For Your Children
  • Space to write your own prayers using 20 encouraging Scriptures

Why not make a commitment to spend just a little time daily going through this journal, and praying consistently over your homeschool?  Make use of the power that God offers through His Word and prayer, and watch Him work in your homeschool as well as the hearts of your children.

◊◊ Instant Download Digital Copy ◊◊

Please Note: This is not a physical item

 

 

 

Prayer Promises FREE 30 Day Scripture Writing Plan

Purposeful Parenting is no small task! As busy Moms, we need to make sure that our hearts and minds are being filled daily with God’s word. When we spend time meditating on Scripture, God renews our strength in Him, He gives us wisdom & patience, and He surrounds us with His peace.

I want to invite you to join me in writing and praying God’s promises this month. Download this FREE 30 Day Scripture Writing Plan. Take a few minutes each day to read the verse (s). Use it to write Scripture and journal your thoughts and prayers. Ask God to speak to you through His Word. He would love to meet you there!

Prayer Promises FREE 30 Day Scripture Writing Plan

Download Your FREE Prayer Promises 30 Day Scripture Writing Plan from The Character Corner

28 Day Gratitude Challenge – Scriptures & Prayers

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Join me for a 28 day gratitude challenge, and see  if you can keep a grateful attitude for the month!

How would you score on this gratitude attitude test?

  •  I look at life through grateful eyes and regularly express my gratitude to God.
  •  I don’t often stop to actually express my gratitude to God, even though I know I’ve been greatly blessed.
  •  I’ve got some work to do in the area of expressing gratitude.
  •  I’m more of a complainer than a grateful person.
  • I tend to focus more on negative things and talk about them to everyone.

This challenge will include:

  • A week of reading and writing a Scripture each day that commands us to give thanks, or show gratitude.
  • A week of reading and writing “I will” verses — making a commitment to gratitude.
  • Two weeks of journaling your prayers of gratitude to God for Who He is, and what He has done for you. (You can use the prayers that are provided, or write your own prayers from the Scriptures given.)

Regardless of where you are on the gratitude scale, I hope that you will join me for this challenge. Gratitude changes our perspective, and makes us aware of all that God has done for us, and is doing for us daily.

Are you willing to take a few minutes each day to express your thanks to Him, as you prepare your heart for Thanksgiving?

Sign up to join, and each week you will receive an email with the daily challenges for the week.

I'm ready to show my gratitude!

A beautiful journal is available to go along with this challenge for only $5.00  It’s not necessary to purchase it, but I feel it will make the challenge a little bit more personal as you journal your prayers throughout these 28 days.

Gratitude Challenge

This downloadable journal will give you Scriptures and prayers to guide you, as you seek to develop a heart of thanksgiving. As an added bonus, the appendix has a set of 12 beautiful prayer cards to print and post in visible places, reminding you to pray throughout the day.

Praying For My Homeschool Prayer Journal

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Praying faithfully over your homeschool is even more important than choosing curriculum, or coming up with the perfect schedule. Prayer is vital to all areas of your homeschool.

As homeschooling parents, we have to remember that homeschooling is a lifestyle, and involves much more than academics. We cannot diligently train, instruct and educate our children in our own strength or wisdom.

Use the arrows below to flip through the beginning of the prayer journal!

We need God’s guidance as we try to fulfill our responsibility to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We also need Him to work in the hearts of our children as we teach and train them.

Having a plan is the first step in to praying faithfully over your homeschool! This journal is your plan, and will guide you into meaningful prayers that make a difference.

Plan a successful homeschool year in 5 easy steps

There are 3 sections in the journal:

  • 10 Days of Specific Prayers For Your Homeschool
  • 10 Days of Scripture Prayers For Your Children
  • Space to write your own prayers using 20 encouraging Scriptures

Why not make a commitment to spend just a little time daily going through this journal, and praying consistently over your homeschool?  Make use of the power that God offers through His Word and prayer, and watch Him work in your homeschool as well as the hearts of your children.

◊◊ Instant Download Digital Copy ◊◊

Please Note: This is not a physical item

Prayer Challenge – Praying Biblical Virtues For Your Children

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 Introducing our  30 Day Prayer Challenge –

PRAYING BIBLICAL VIRTUES FOR YOUR CHILDREN

I believe that prayer is the most important part of rearing our children. Why? Because God can do what we cannot do! 

The battle for our kids is waged on our knees, so we need to saturate their lives in prayer.

When we regularly and consistently come before the Lord on behalf of our family, we are acknowledging our dependence on Him to work in their lives. The exciting thing is that He invites us to come to Him on behalf our or children!

Thus saith the Lord, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.” Isaiah 45:11

It’s not enough to diligently teach our kids about God and His Word. We must also pray for God to work in their hearts in a mighty way.

We need to work as though it all depends on us and pray as though it all depends on Him!

I believe that the power of God penetrates a child’s life when a parent prays, yet so often we neglect it and get discouraged when we see them making wrong choices. We wonder if the mistakes we make as a parent are the reason for their wrong choices.

The thing to remember is that none of us can be perfect, and that’s okay because it’s being a praying parent that makes the difference, and that is something we ALL can be!

Our weapon as we pray:

To make our prayers more powerful and effective, we need to use God’s word as our weapon. If we declare the Word of God as we pray, we have a powerful weapon which no enemy can prevail against.

The Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword. Hebrews 4:12

One of the best things you can do for your kids is pray Scripture for them! 

I’d love for you to join me for  a 30 day Scripture prayer challenge:

Praying Biblical Virtues For Your Children (Volume 2)

This prayer challenge is totally free, and will include a daily prayer based on Scripture, as well as additional Scriptures to reflect on and personalize into prayers for your children. When you join you will get a welcome email, and then a daily email with a prayer challenge for  each of the 30 days. We will begin the challenge on June 1st.

SIGN UP NOW TO JOIN ME!

Take a look at the Table of Contents to see the things we will be praying about for our children:
I have created a beautiful journal to go along with this challenge. This is totally optional, but I have found that when I journal my prayers, the Scriptures become more meaningful to me, and I’m able to focus my thoughts  on the  prayer that God is impressing on my heart. The journal has an additional 5 days of prayers & Scriptures, as well as a printable with all of the prayers and a verse for each, which you can keep in your Bible.
 
The journal includes:
  • A daily prayer for your children’s character
  • Several suggested Scriptures to reflect on
  • Space for writing your own personal prayers
  • A set of 30 prayer cards that go along with the challenge

For more details click here.

My prayer is that you will join me for this challenge, and prepare to see God work in the hearts and lives of your children!

Praying Biblical Virtues For Your Children – Volume 2 Prayer Journal

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There is nothing more powerful in your parenting than prayer! By praying Scripture for our children, we invite the very power of God into their hearts and lives.  This printable journal is a follow- up to the Praying Biblical Virtues For Your Children Volume 1 Journal and will continue to help you pray powerful Scripture prayers for your children’s character.

Included in the journal are:

  • A prayer for each day that is taken from Scripture
  • Additional Scriptures to reflect on
  • Journal sheets for you to write your own personalized prayer
  • Printable to keep in your Bible with all 35 prayers and a Scripture reference

 

 

This is an excellent tool to guide you and keep you encouraged as you not only train your kids in Godly character but also PRAY for their character using powerful Bible prayers.

Praying Scripture changes hearts and lives, and there is no greater investment you can make into the lives of your children!

This is a downloadable file which you can print in color or black & white.  

◊◊ Instant Download Digital Copy ◊◊

Please Note: This is not a physical item

Praying Biblical Virtues For Your Children – 30 Day Prayer Challenge

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 Introducing our  30 Day Prayer Challenge:

PRAYING BIBLICAL VIRTUES FOR YOUR CHILDREN

One of the best things you can do for your kids is pray Scripture for them! As a new school year approaches, good character is the one thing that will help your children the most.

If you homeschool, you can have the best laid plans and have the most popular curriculum, but if your kids don’t have Godly character, you are going to have a hard time teaching them!

Character is a vital ingredient to academic success, but it also helps your children to become more like Christ, and better equipped to fulfill His plans for them.

Why pray Scripture for their character? 

Because the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword. (Hebrews  4:12)

God’s Word has power that our words don’t have.

I have personally found that when I pray Scripture for my children, God does amazing things in their hearts and lives. I believe that happens because  when we pray God’s Word back to Him for our children, we invite His power into their hearts and lives.

RELATED: PRAYING THROUGH PROVERBS FOR YOUR CHILDREN

Praying Scripture does not have to be a complicated or difficult thing, and there is no right or wrong way to do it. Simply read the verses, and say them back to God in your own words, inserting the name(s) of your children.

Here is a simple example from my prayer journal, showing how I have prayed Scripture  based on Proverbs 21:1 and Isaiah 55:11.

    Father, if you can change the heart of a king, you can change the heart of my child. Please work in his heart, and make the changes that are needed there. We have diligently taught Him Your Word, and I am claiming Your promise that Your Word won’t return onto You void, but will accomplish what it should.

The exciting thing  is that after praying that for my son, I saw God begin to work in his heart!  It was softened, and he began to be more open when the Lord convicted his heart of wrong behavior. He came to me in tears a couple of times, asking me to pray for him about something he was struggling with. THAT is the power of God’s Word at work through prayer!

This prayer challenge is totally free, and will include a daily prayer based on Scripture, as well as additional Scriptures to reflect on and personalize into prayers for your children. When you join you will get a welcome email, and then a daily email with a prayer challenge for  the next 30 days.

My prayer is that you will join me for this 30 day  challenge to pray  Scripture for your children’s character, and as a result see God do some wonderful things in their lives, as they  grow and become more like Jesus.

I have created a beautiful journal to go along with this challenge. This is totally optional, but I have found that when I journal my prayers, the Scriptures become more meaningful to me, and I’m able to focus my thoughts  on the  prayer that God is impressing on my heart.
Praying virtues for your children
The journal includes:
  • A daily prayer for your children’s character
  • Several suggested Scriptures to reflect on
  • Space for writing your own personal prayers
  • A set of 30 prayer cards that go along with the challenge

For more details click here.

Also available is a journal for your kids to pray through the same prayers
  Devotional Prayer Journal for Kids:  Praying Biblical Virtues 
Think of the power that will be unleashed as you AND your kids are studying God’s Word and praying Scripture back to Him regarding Godly character!

DEVOTIONAL PRAYER JOURNAL FOR KIDS:  

Biblical Virtues  

7 Prayers Every Wife Should Pray

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We cannot be the wives we want to be without God’s power and help. Here are seven prayers  every wife should pray, to be the best wife she can be!

7 prayers every wife should pray

1. Lord, help me to submit to my husband in all things as unto You.

  • Ephesians 5:22-24
  • Titus 2:5
  • Colossians 3:18

2. Lord, help to stay committed to our marriage vows with devotion, honor, and sexual purity.

  • Matthew 5:8
  • Hebrews 13:4

3. Lord, equip my husband with strength and wisdom to lead and manage our family well.

  • Joshua 1:7
  • I Timothy 3:4

4. Lord, help me to love and respect my husband and work diligently to care for the home you have provided us.

  • Ephesians 5:33
  • Titus 2:4-5

5. Lord, help me to find peace and contentment as a wife, and be a wife of character, compassion, and wisdom

  • Proverbs 31:10-29

6. Lord, help me to develop friendships with Godly women who treasure their families, and desire to have a deeper walk with You.

  • Proverbs 27:17
  • Hebrews 10:24

7. Lord, help me to wisely use the resources and gifts God has provided for our family, being faithful in the “little” things, and investing my time and energy in things that count for eternity.

  • Matthew 6:19-21
  • Luke 16:10-13

Prayer is a KEY component of a successful  marriage, so be sure to pray daily. Why not pray for your husband daily as well? It’s the best gift you can give him!

Join me in this  30 DAY CHALLENGE:

PRAYING SCRIPTURE FOR YOUR HUSBAND

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