God is never too busy or preoccupied to receive you when you bring your burdens into his presence. God cares for your children. That is such an encouragement when we are struggling to persevere in prayer.
But it’s hard to know what to pray sometimes; or we’ve been praying for so many years that we’ve run out of steam and lost momentum. So, to reinvigorate your prayers for your children, here are ten ways you can pray. They’ve been drawn from conversations I’ve had with parents in pain who have shared some of the substance of their prayers. Each situation has its own complications, but over time several common themes have emerged.
This is the obvious place to begin. As we have seen, every conversion is a miracle. God needs to take away the heart of stone and in its place put a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26-27). At this point it is quite easy to become knotted up by our theology. What if God has not chosen them? Where does human responsibility begin? What is the place of prayer? Without being overly simplistic, my advice is to simply set these matters aside and cling to the fact that God encourages us to pray for lost people to be saved. We can pray in the face of mystery without full comprehension. So come with childlike faith and ask for the one thing above everything else that you long for. You can leave the results with God. Pray that God will deliver your child from the dominion of darkness and transfer them to the kingdom of his Son (Colossians 1:13).
One parent said to me, “I’m praying that my daughter will come into contact with the gospel at work—I know that there are at least two Christians in the school where she teaches”. The contact might come through conversations, social media, music or some other means. It is amazing how often God uses unexpected and unforeseen methods to awaken dull consciences. So be imaginative! Pray for providential encounters.
We want our children to be happy, and most parents will do anything in their power to protect
their children from disappointment and difficulty. But their eternal salvation is more important than any temporary happiness in this world. When they go through hard times, we rightly do whatever we can to support them, but we can also pray that God will use the situation to open their eyes.
Children brought up in a Christian home will be exposed to so much biblical truth during their formative years. Many of these great truths are never truly forgotten. Pray that the Holy Spirit would bring back to mind the seeds that were planted in their hearts. Ask God to awaken within them a yearning for himself (Psalm 42:1).
We are engaged in a spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:10- 20). I remember seeing a Christian poster many years ago. The light of the moon streams through a window and illuminates a small child lying in bed. On his knees next to the bed we see a man, presumably this child’s father, deep in passionate prayer. Underneath are the words “Spiritual Warfare”. Pray that the devil will not snatch away the seed of God’s word (Matthew 13:4, 18-19). Ask God to protect them from the snares of the evil one (2 Timothy 2:22-26).
Pray for their marriages. Pray for their children. Pray about their work stresses and house moves. Pray about their small needs and big decisions. And then don’t be embarrassed to tell them how you’ve been praying—it may give them pause for thought when they see God answer. (And if you have children who are walking with the Lord, don’t neglect to pray for them too. I have met parents whose children turned away from the faith in their 20s or 30s. Avoid complacency.)
We sometimes think that they can only be saved through our witness. But the Lord might choose to use someone else to lead them to Christ. Pray for Christians that they might meet at university or in the workplace. I witnessed to my sister for many years, but it was my son who led her to Christ. Ask God to give them gracious and tenacious Christian friends. Pray
that any encounter with believers or with church may be positive. Pray that the Christians they meet would be full of grace.
If you have grandchildren, pray that they might become Christians but also that they may influence their parents. I have seen this happening in a number of ways. When faced
with the challenge of bringing up their own kids, folks will often remember the wonderful influence of a Christian home or the excitement of a Christian camp when they were young. They want their own children to share this experience. So pray that your grandchildren may point them to the Lord. In several cases, I have seen this as the first step back to church and then into Christ.
Ask for God’s help to be faithful, wise, and loving. Pray that you would grow through the
pain that you are experiencing. Pray that you don’t become bitter or resentful towards God. Pray that you will be able to persevere and not give up.
Consider doing this together. In one of the churches I served, there was a regular prayer meeting for “Parents in Pain”. There is a wonderful fellowship when we share
our common burdens. And for many of us, praying with and for other people often seems easier than praying on our own.
God’s timing is not the same as ours. Sometimes he opens his hand one finger at a time! We are creatures of a moment, whereas he is the God of eternity. You cannot hold an hourglass to the creator of time. God loves your children more than you ever will, so by prayer, place them into his hands and learn to leave them there.
This is an excerpt from When Children Walk Away From Jesus, by Paul Mallard. Available on 1st December 2025, this book provides comfort, hope, and practical advice for parents of non-believing children.
Paul Mallard served as a pastor for 40 years in three different churches. He now works as Director for the West Midlands for the FIEC (Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches, UK), supporting churches and their leaders across the region. He's the author of several books, including Invest Your Disappointments and Heaven: Living with Eternity in View. He and his wife Edrie have four children and eight grandchildren.
