This morning prayer is for parents and caregivers who want to bring their children before God before the day begins. Pray it at the kitchen table with coffee in hand, in the car on the way to school, or while the house is still quiet and the children are still asleep. You can read it aloud exactly as written, or use it as a starting point and speak your own words where your children’s needs are different.
Morning Prayer for My Children
Father, I come to you before the noise of this day begins. Thank you for the gift of these children, and for the fact that they belong to you before they ever belonged to me. You know their names, their moods, their fears and their hopes. You know which of them is anxious about the test today, which one is quiet because something at school is weighing on them, and which one has already started to argue about shoes. Go before them into every room they enter.
Give them rest in the hours that are behind them and strength for the hours ahead. Guard their hearts from cruelty and comparison, and from the kind of loneliness that makes a child stop speaking up. Help them to be honest with their friends, kind to their brothers and sisters, and willing to ask for help when they need it. Where they feel small, remind them that they are seen. Where they feel strong, keep them humble. Teach them to love you more than they love being admired.
Lord, give me patience for the moments that test me this morning, and gentleness when the schedule falls apart. Help me to listen more than I speak, and to notice the child who needs a hug before they need a lunch box. Let my words today build them up rather than tear them down. Keep them safe on the roads and in the classrooms, and bring them home at the end of the day with their hearts still tender toward you. Amen.
A Shorter Version to Pray in a Moment
Lord, my children are in your hands this morning. Go before them to school, to work, to their friends and to the tasks that are waiting for them. Give them courage where they are afraid, honesty where they are tempted to hide, and kindness toward everyone they meet. Keep me patient, and let my words be ones that help them grow. Amen.
Scriptures to Pray Alongside
Psalm 121:7-8
7 The LORD will keep you from all evil. He will keep your soul. 8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in, from this time forward, and forever more.
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Pray this verse over your children as they leave the house. Ask God to keep them from harm on the way out and on the way back, and to watch over their comings and goings through the whole day.
Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
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Use this passage when your children face decisions they do not yet understand. Ask that they would trust God with their plans and that he would make their paths straight as they choose friends, subjects and actions.
Philippians 4:6-7
6 In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
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Pray this for children who carry worry into the day. Ask God to replace their anxiety with a settled peace that guards their hearts and minds, especially before a test, a game or a hard conversation.
Isaiah 40:31
But those who wait for the LORD will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.
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Bring this verse to God for children who feel tired, discouraged or pressed by school and activities. Ask that the Lord would renew their strength so that they can keep going without giving up.
Ephesians 6:1-4
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with a promise: 3 “that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth.” 4 You fathers, don’t provoke your children to wrath, but nurture them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
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Pray this for your children’s relationships with you and with others in the home. Ask God to help them honor, to help you lead with patience, and to make your household a place where everyone is growing in the Lord.
How to Pray This Prayer
Choose a time when you can be still for a few minutes before the rush begins, such as right after you wake up or while the coffee is brewing. Keep a cup in your hands, or hold a child’s photo or a family picture while you pray. Speak the names of each child slowly, so that you are praying for each one by name rather than rushing through the list.
Invite your spouse, a grandparent, or another friend to pray the same words over the children at the same hour. Some families take turns each morning, while others write the prayer on a card and tuck it into a lunch box or onto the bathroom mirror. However you do it, let it become a steady habit rather than a rare event.
A Blessing to Close
May the Lord bless these children and keep them. May he make his face shine upon them and give them peace for the day. May they know that they are loved, that they belong to God, and that wherever they go today, he goes with them.
