Jeff:
We got a question from our Facebook group. If you’re listening and you’re not in the Facebook group, get in the Facebook group. There’s a link down in the description on the YouTube channel and a link down in the description on the audio podcast as well. Or I think you can just search Five Minute Fatherhood on Facebook. We’d love to have you in there. And I think there’s 700, 800, 900 kind of dads in there. We’re all sharpen each other, encouraging each other. One of the questions we had though came from Bradley. He said, “Hey guys. I’d also love to hear what everyone else does in this group, but for you and Jeremy, you Jeff, and Jeremy, would you guys be able to do a podcast on what kinds of prayers we should say for our kids and with our kids?” I love that question. And we have kind of a couple ideas, but Jeremy, what do you guys say?

Jeremy:
Yeah. So I’ve had various different iterations. I love this question because I think it is important to have a prayer strategy for your children. I want to walk you guys through a few of the prayer strategies that I’ve had in the past. So one is praying a specific scripture over your children. So this is where the Lord may reveal a scripture that really is really tuned for who they are and who he sees them as. It’s just asking the Lord to give that to you. And as you come across different prayers… so many amazing prayers and scripture, there’s one in the beginning of Colossians that my parents prayed over me for years. If you’d go back and listen to the podcast and the Dad’s Building Team podcasts, one of the episodes where I interviewed actually my dad, super emotional for me. At the end of that podcast, he actually reads that prayer that he’d been praying over me my whole life.

And so I think you can do that for your kids. I think that’s huge. I think knowing attributes that you’re beginning to see the Holy Spirit is beginning to bring out in them is a really important thing to pray for them over and also praying specific callings for them. So a lot of times what I will do, I’ve done this in a couple of ways. There’s a great book, I can’t remember was called, but the guy in his family prayers, he had cards for each of his children. And so he’d put their name at the top of like a three by five card. And then he would, as the Lord would reveal things, he would put things on a three by five card and he would just sort of pray through those on a regular basis in his prayer time.

And so I did that for a whole season. That was super valuable. Today what I do is I, in my morning prayer time, so of the six people in my family, I actually go through each of them, like one every day of the week. And so if I’m praying for Sydney, I’ll put her name down and just spend time just listening to the Holy spirit. And I’ll just sort of journal things that I’m hearing things that I’m… and once I’ve got sort of a thing that I’ve written about her, then I’ll just pray right into that.

So that’s how I do it today. And then I look for themes. And so I do this in my journal so I can go back and see all the different things I’ve been praying for Sydney and see if there are certain things that are popping up that are themes that I’m really sort of pushing into and really trying to win that air war over each of my kids. So that what God is really trying to do in them, I’m really aligned with my hearts aligned with, and I’m asking the Lord and really partnering with the Holy Spirit and what he’s trying to do in and through my kids. But yeah. Jeff, have you thought about this topic of prayer?

Jeff:
Yeah, very similarly. Very similarly. I think, yeah. We try to do kind of blessings together at the dinner table and that sense of those prayers. Praying kind of corporately or collectively as a family over the kids. Yeah. Praying in the morning for the kids. One idea that we had that’s kind of fun that’s more of like a long play, is a friend of ours actually gave us the idea and gave us the Bible. Is when Kinsley was born he got me a journal Bible. And he just basically said, “Hey, make this Kinsley’s Bible. And over 20 years or 18 years, just kind of, while you’re reading the Bible, write little prayers and notes to her in the margins because it’s a journal Bible. And then in 20 years or 18 years give it to her.” And I loved that idea and Alyssa has done that as well with all the kids and I have the one for Kinsley and, yeah. As you grow a family, that’s a lot of Bibles and you got to do a lot of writing. But it’s fun. And it’s a blast. I think that really kind of then gets you in the scriptures, thinking about your kids while you’re reading the scriptures, which is really important.

And the other thing I’ll say is, yeah.. Speak life over your kids. I love the attribute one. I think that’s huge with toddlers of like seek out what the Lord has for them and where he’s taking them in the best version of themselves, in Jesus and pray that over them, tell that over them, recite that over them and call that out in them. And another thing I would say too, which is a fun tip, but I don’t think a lot of people think about is pray with your eyes open. I never pray with the kids with my eyes closed. We never bow our heads. It’s just like a weird little thing where I want to see them when I’m praying.

And I want them to see me when I’m praying. And that’s a weird thing by the way of like, I don’t know if we realize that that actually is just totally a cult. Like there’s no command to say bow your heads and close your eyes, right? And I see your hand over there. I see your hand over there, you know, the classic megachurch version. And so, yeah. That’s just a… it’s like do whatever you want, right? But I actually have a very particular thing where I think there’s… I have a pretty strong opinion where I think there’s actually a lot more intimacy and prayer can actually do what prayer does when you’re actually looking straight in someone’s eyes. And that’s what it’s actually for, especially when you’re praying with another person or for another person. And so yeah. With your kids, man, I would say that is huge.

Pray. Looking into their eyes. Have them look at you. And so I do that at bed where right before bed, we go through this routine and then I grab the kids by their cheeks and then I pray for them right there. And usually say stuff like that. I’m so thankful… I pray I’m so thankful to Jesus that you’re courageous, that you’re brave, that you’re smart, that you’re kind. And we’re in the fruits of the spirit season right now actually. So we’re kind of actually praying those right now, calling those out in them when we see those. And so, yeah. That’s what I would say is pray for them. Pray with your eyes open, speak life over them, and just like Jeremy said, actually, the bigger question is just, do you have a prayer strategy and can you say you have one? Because it’s deeply important if you’re going to lead your family to lead your family at the feet of Jesus in prayer for them.