Cheryl Grover
- Aug 15, 2022
- 4 min read

Praying for Your Children at All Stages of Life

Pray without ceasing- 1 Thes 5:17

Recently one of my closest friends called me on the phone and said, "What was that saying your mom always said to you and your siblings about prayer?" In a split second, I could answer her,

"Kids, I don't ever want to live where I can't get my prayers answered."

My mother's words and her prayers are constantly ringing in my ears! In other words, keep short accounts with God. Nothing between my soul and my Savior! If my children are in an emergency situation, I don't have time to get my sins confessed, all I have time to do is ask God for guidance in the moment. Psalm 66:18

A tiny scene into my background:

I grew up in an evangelistic singing family ministry. We traveled in a bus from church to church. I had 7 siblings and my parents in one 35-foot bus, so ministry was like breathing to me. The other major part of our life was prayer. (It takes a lot of prayer to be in a tight space with 10 people!

It was nothing for my family to have daily 2-hour family devotions with an entire hour spent in prayer. (My mother is here to verify this.) We would get on our knees and pray for everyone, everything, and every member of the family would pray. Prayer starts with me!

1. Praying for your children before they are born.

As far back as when I was 5 or 6, I can recall Mom praying over me and for my future children. This prompted me to pray for my own future children long before I was ever married. It's never too early to start praying. Start right now, if you haven't already!

2. Praying for your children in the womb.

I am the mother of 2 now adult daughters. But as I carried them in my womb, my husband, Mike and I would pray out loud for our girls and pray for their future children.... you see the pattern here. My mom prayed for each of us in her womb. She birthed 8 children: 3 sons and 5 daughters. 7 out of 8 ended up in full time ministry. All 5 girls married pastors. I believe this was greatly due to her and my dad's prayers over us!

3. Praying for and with your children at the early stages of life and teaching them to pray.

This is paramount. These are the formative years of life, and they are foundational. Not only did my mother teach us to pray before meals and bed, but as soon as our feet touched the floor in the morning. This is when she taught us to pray and ask God for what we needed. This is what my mother taught us:

TELL OUR BLESSING TO OTHERS AND TELL OUR NEEDS TO GOD.

In other words, it was our personal responsibility to tell the Lord what our needs were. "Give us this day our daily bread." Matthew 6:11. We prayed, and we saw God meet our needs miraculously on a daily basis. The stories are too many to tell.

4. Praying earnestly for your children through the teen years.

Every age of life is critical, but as we all know, the teen years are an emotional rollercoaster, and I was not an exception. I'm one of 8 children the middle of the "bunch", #4, but also the middle of the 5 girls, so any way you looked at it, I was in the middle. Yes, there was drama with 5 girls in one family. But it was always, always, always handled with Scripture and prayer. We were often asked to pray aloud when settling an issue. Have you ever tried praying while mad at someone? Impossible!

5. Praying for your adult children.

At this point in life, we are only in our children's life as much as they choose to have us. Be very cautious. Guard giving unwarranted advice. At this point, we should keep the welcome mat out, keep our mouth quiet and stay on our knees. I saw this displayed greatly in my parents.

As I said earlier, I'm one of 8. My oldest brother decided at age 18 that my parents were too strict, so he was going to join the Marines.... ha-ha! He wasn't as smart as he thought. But sadly, he took a path away from God. So, in reality he was mad at God, not just his strict parents. I love that my parents kept the communication open.

My parents kept loving and praying always! I love that they never ever one time turned their back on my brother, always praying and always showing unconditional love.

He was away from God for over 30 years, making decisions he would regret and pay for. There were years we didn't know if he was alive or dead. I can still hear Mom praying, begging God to let her know my brother was right with God before something happened to him. The day came that he drove to my parents' house and told them he was right with God, and he asked God's and the family forgiveness.

He testified that the entire time he was running from God he could not get away from Mom's (and Dads) prayers. They rang in his ears day and night. For the last 5 years of his life, he lived for God with his whole heart! He was killed in a car accident the day after Christmas in 2016, but my mother's prayers were answered. He died with her knowing everything was right between him and the Lord!

My precious mom is now 82 years old and spends hours praying for others, but especially her family. To this day my mother spends hours in prayer for each of her children, all in ministry, all serving the Lord, largely due to her prayers! (Dad is in Heaven)

Please, if you're a praying parent, do not stop. Do not be weary in well doing, Galatians 6:9. You will reap in due season. No, prayer is not a magic wand; it is a powerful tool. God does hear and answer prayer! I'm living proof. You are living proof because someone prayed for you!