This year looks a lot like 2020 doesn’t it? For my family, 2020 ended with an explosion in downtown Nashville knocking out all of our AT&T services—TV, internet, and cell service. (We are rethinking this communications strategy.) And we all witnessed the chaos and destruction in our Capitol last week.

Can we agree the world is broken? What is a parent to do?

“Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children” (Lam 2:19), Jeremiah said to the hopeless people of Jerusalem.

Let’s lift up our hands to God and believe in prayer for our children as they face the challenges of this world.

The Heart
Ask God to transform your child’s heart into His and to grow grace and obedience.
Give grace, O God, according to your faithful love. Scrub away ______’s guilt and cleanse him/her from his/her sin. _____’s sin is always before him/her, and you know the extent of his/her guilt. Against you and you only has ______ sinned and done evil in your sight. Wash ______ so he/she may be whiter than snow. Create in ______ a clean heart and make a fresh start in his/her life (Ps 51).

Peace
Jesus said we will have trouble in this world (Jn 16:33). We can expect it, but we don’t need to wallow in it.
Your Word tells us, “Don’t be afraid” (Mt 14:27). Help ________ not to be afraid. May ________ lay his/her fears before you. May ______ believe you are the Prince of Peace. Grow the fruit of peace in ______ this day. Make your face shine on ________ and give him/her your peace. May ________’s trust in you be unshakeable so he/she is deeply at peace in you (Gal 5:22, Nm 6:26).

Identity
We have an identity crisis in our culture. The culture sows confusion, and our heads spin at the speed of the changes. Counteract this confusion with truth: It is in Christ that we find who and whose we are.
May  ______ know it’s not who he/she feels he/she is but who you created him/her to be. May _______ know who he/she is according to your truth. Govern _____’s mind with your Spirit that he/she might have life and peace. May _______ stand firmly on the truth that you created him/her in your own image (Rom 8:6, Gn  1:27).

Significance
Each person longs to be known and loved. Before you knew your child, God did. He intricately designed each child for a purpose. Remind your child regularly: “You are a child of God.”
Father, thank you that ________ is wonderfully and fearfully made. May he/she believe it. Give him/her increasing glimpses of how you see him/her. Satisfy _______ this morning with you so that he/she delights in your presence. May you and you only be the source of  ______’s significance (Ps 139, Ps 90:14).

Friends
Remember when you worried if your child would have someone to sit with at lunch? In this present climate, it is difficult to meet new friends and cultivate old ones. Pray that your child is a good friend and finds like-minded friends. Pray for diversity in friendships. Create a culture of hospitality in your home (as best you can).
Lord, Your Word says that “a friend loves at all times” (Prv 17:17). Bring friends into my child’s life according to your will. May their paths cross in a divine meeting. Show them creative ways to grow in friendship during these times of social distancing.

Salvation
According to Barna Group research, two out of three born-again Christians (64%) made that commitment to Christ before their 18th birthday. Impact your child for Christ during the years at home. Encourage spiritual conversations. Share your testimony. Set an example of reading the Bible and praying.
Father, open the eyes of _________ so he/she may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that  ________ may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in you (Acts 26:18 ).

Purpose
Observe the gifts and talents in your child and encourage them. Pivot when a new one emerges and an old one wanes. Look for opportunities for your child to practice his gifts in safe environments.
Lord, I ask that you give ______ a spirit of “wisdom and understanding to know how to do all the work” (Ex 36:1). Fulfill your whole purpose for this child (Ps 20:4). Foster confidence in him/her that you who began a good work in _______ will complete it (Phil 1:6).

Protection
A mom placed red tape over the door of her house this past year. She referenced the red blood painted over the doors of the Israelites’ homes when the angel of death invaded Egypt (Ex 11, 12). The plague passed over the Israelites’ homes. As in the Bible story, my friend’s faith is in God for her family’s protection, not the red tape.
I say to you Lord, be __________’s refuge and fortress, the God whom he/she trusts. May your faithfulness be like a protective shield. Though a thousand fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, I believe the pestilence will not reach ___________  because you are his/her refuge (Ps 91).

What other ways do you pray for your child?