35 Powerful Scriptures to Speak and Pray Over Your Children

As a parent we know we should be speaking and praying Scripture for your child, but sometimes it’s hard to find the words. There is so much we want for them. There is so much we want to protect them from. There are so many verses in the Bible it’s hard to decide on what to pray for your kids! Use these 35 powerful Scriptures to pray over your children as often as you can.

The importance of praying Scripture for your child

There is great power in speaking God’s promises over your children’s lives.  As a parent I consider it my joy and my job to be a prayer warrior for my children.

I don’t want to pray for only physical needs like safety, growth, and health, but for their spiritual needs–that they would know how deeply God loves them and they would follow Him all the days of their lives.

While we absolutely want to pray for our children while they are under 18 and living in our homes, these are also excellent prayers to pray for and speak over your adult children. Even if they seem to have strayed from the faith they were raised in, your prayers “effectual fervent prayer of a righteous person” (James 5:16) are heard by the Heavenly Father and are working on their behalf.

The best way for you to impact your child’s life when they are grown is to pray for them.

How to speak and pray God’s Word over your child

1. Begin with the Bible verse you would like to speak and pray over your child.
2. Use your child’s name and personal pronouns in your prayer to personalize it.

Here’s an example:

Let’s say you chose Philippians 4:4-5 to pray over your daughter today. These verses say, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.” Here’s how you pray Scriptures over your child.

Your sample prayer would be:

Dear God, may you bless Rebecca with joy today. May You fill her spirit with a happiness that can only be fueled by your Holy Spirit. I pray that today Rebecca’s gentleness will be evident to all. May God your presence be near her today–when she is at school, on the playground, riding the bus, when she is here in this house–may You be near her. Amen.

How to get started praying Scripture for your child

You may want to pray all 35 Bible verses over each child everyday– while that ambition is noble, I’d encourage you to start smaller. Consistent and persistent is the name of the game in prayer!

Choose 3 verses to speak as simple prayers over your children each day and then work up from there as you have time. You can select 1 verse from each section or choose to pray over one section each day for your child.

You can print these prayer verses and tape them in the back of your Bible. Write your child’s initial next to the verse each time you pray it for them. What a legacy of faith to leave for them!

To learn more about studying the Bible be sure to grab your FREE BIBLE STUDY CONFIDENCE KIT to help guide you through your Bible reading.

You can also use the Bible Study Confidence Kit to create a prayer journal for your child. I have included printable prayer sheets with prompts for your children and you can also add your own powerful prayer for each individual child.

I hope this resource helps you consistently bring your children before God in prayer!

35 Powerful Scriptures to speak and pray over your children.

Here are 35 specific verses you can speak aloud over your children as you pray for your children using Scripture.

Prayers for your Children’s heart

1. Come to know Christ Jesus as their Savior. — For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him will have eternal life. -John 3:16
2. Know the love of Christ — Being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. -Ephesians 3:17-18
3. They would love the Word of God — Your words came to me and they were sweet and I ate them. -Jeremiah 15:16
4. They wouldn’t lose their childlike faith — Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” -Matthew 19:14
5. Not be entangled in sin — Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. -Hebrews 12:1
6. Heart to obey their parents — Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise—  so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth. -Ephesians 6:1-3

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Prayers for spiritual wisdom

1. Make wise choices — Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her. -Proverbs 8:10-11
2. Fear the Lord — The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. -Proverbs 1:7
3. Educational, physical and emotional growth — And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. -Luke 2:52
4. Friendships that are a blessing — Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm. -Proverbs 13:20
5. Resist peer pressure — Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character. -1 Corinthians 15:33
6. Wisdom from heaven — But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. -James 3:17
7. Eyes of their hearts open — I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people. -Ephesians 1:8

Prayers for your children’s protection

1. Spiritual protection –Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. -Ephesians 4:13-15
2. Good health — Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. -3 John 1:2
3. Protection from unwholesome talk — Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. -Ephesians 4:29
4. Protection from sin — Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. -Psalm 51:10
5. Protection from greed — Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. -Hebrews 13:5

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Prayers of blessing

1. Be a testimony for Jesus Christ — In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. -Matthew 5:16
2. God’s blessing on their life — The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. -Numbers 6:24-26
3. God would direct them as they trust in Him — Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. -Proverbs 3:5-6
4. Grow in their faith — But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our lord and savior Jesus Christ. -2 Peter 3:18
5. That they would rest in God — He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” -Psalm 91:1
6. Be filled with the fruit of the Spirit — But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. -Galatians 5:22-23

Prayers for their character

1. Be respectful — Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor. -1 Peter 2:17
2. Selflessness — Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,  not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. -Philippians 2:3-4
3. Have abounding hope — Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. -Romans 15:13
4. Be strong and brave — Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. -Joshua 1:9
5. Be kind and forgiving — Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. -Ephesians 4:32
6. Be truthful — Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. -Ephesians 4:25
7. Boldness in prayer — Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. -Hebrews 4:16
8. Good foundation of faith — The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. -Matthew 7:25
9. Integrity — May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, Lord, is in you. -Psalm 25:21
10. Purity — How does a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your Word. -Psalm 119:9
11. Walk with Jesus — So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. -Colossians 1:10

More ways to grow your prayer life

How to Pray: A Beginners Guide with Examples

The Best 15 Bible Verses About Prayer

The Breath Prayer Guide for Beginners

See more spiritual growth resources here!

Praying Scriptures over your child is an investment of love into their spiritual growth. Use a prayer journal or tracker to help you remember to pray and so you can look back and see God’s specific answers to your prayers.