Sunday, February 11, 2024

Praying Meaningful Prayers with Our Grandchildren

Grandparents often have such a huge influence over the lives of their grandchildren. My grandparents played a very important role in my life. Now that I have a grand-daughter of my own, I pray often that I will be just as important in her life as my grandparents were in mine. One way we can build close relationships with our grandchildren and help them grow closer to the Lord is to pray with them. Here are several ways we can start praying meaningful prayers with our grandchildren.

Praying Meaningful Prayers with Our Grandchildren

Pray over them from the day they are born.

We can begin building a culture of prayer for our grandchildren on the day they are born. Praying over them should be just as natural as holding them. As we cuddle those sweet newborn babies, we can breathe them in, hold them close, and sing to them, but above all, we can begin praying over them. As our grandchildren grow, knowing we will pray over them should be just as natural to them as knowing we will feed them.

Take interest in their lives.

My grandmothers were always interested in whatever was going on in my life. It didn't matter how small or insignificant the issue was. If it was important to me, it was important to them. The same is true for our grandchildren. Their problems may seem small to us, especially if they are still very young, but if their problems are huge for them, then they should be huge for us. We can take opportunities to talk to them about the things that are important to them. We should never miss the opportunity to pray with them over those things. If they are very young, we can take a few minutes to pray a few simple sentences with them. As they grow older, we can pray more deeply and more specifically over the struggles they face. I know that my granddaughter will face many struggles in her life. I want her to know that I will always be a good listener and I will always pray over her life.

Pray sincerely.

As we pray over our grandchildren, let's make sure we are sincere in our prayers and they know it. I want my granddaughter to know that my prayers for her will never be half-hearted. I want her to know that when I pray over her life, I will pray sincerely and boldly. I don't want her to grow up thinking, "Maybe Nonnie will pray for me." I want her to grow up thinking, "I need to talk to my Nonnie. I know she will pray for me."

Allow them to pray their own prayers from their own hearts.

I titled this post "Praying Meaningful Prayers WITH Our Grandchildren because I wanted to emphasize the importance of praying together. Part of praying with our grandchildren is teaching them to pray. Those cute little poetry prayers are OK in the beginning, but we didn't say those too much with our own children and I don't want us to say those too much with our grandchildren. Those repeated prayers are good tools for teaching, but we need to encourage our children and grandchildren to pray their own prayers from their own hearts as early as possible. Let's teach our grandchildren that prayer is simply talking to God. Let them talk to God and we can be involved in that conversation with them. Pray together.

Pray the Scriptures over your grandchildren. When they are with you, make sure they hear you pray.

Pray the scriptures out loud over your grandchildren. There is something powerful about hearing the very Word of God spoken over those who we love. For example, let's read Psalm 3:3-5.

But You, Lord, are a shield around me,
My glory, and the One who lifts my head.
I was crying out to the Lord with my voice,
And He answered me from His holy mountain. Selah
I lay down and slept;
I awoke, for the Lord sustains me.

Psalm 3:3-5

Based on Psalm 3:3-5, our prayer will be something like this:

Father God,

You, Lord, are a shield around (your grandchild's name).

You are (his/her) glory and the one who lifts (his/her) head.

(He/She) may cry out to You in the wilderness of this earthly life,

And You will answer (him/her) from Your holy mountain.

(He/she) will lay down and sleep;

Then (he/she) will awake for You sustain (him/her).

Thank you for protecting (your grandchild's name) wherever (he/she) may go.

In Jesus' Name,

Amen

Pray prayers of thankfulness.

Let's teach our grandchildren to pray prayers of thankfulness even when God doesn't move in the way they ask. We need to teach our grandchildren that God's timing is perfect and His ways are higher than our ways. Asking God to move a certain way is OK, but they need to know that his answer is not always "yes." Sometimes, God says, "OK, but not now." Sometimes, He says, "No, child, but I have something so much better planned for you." Let's teach those sweet babies to trust God completely with their lives and look forward to the day each of them surrenders to the Lord and begins his or her relationship with Jesus. Then, we can rest in the promise of spending eternity with them.

One day, when my granddaughter (and future grandchildren) say goodby to me here on Earth, I want them to know without a shadow of a doubt that this is only a "See you later, Nonnie." May they remember for the rest of their lives the many prayers we prayed together over the years.

If you aren't sure how to start praying for your grandchildren, The Power of a Praying Grandparent is a good resource.