*Scriptures are New Living Translation
Our oldest three kids like to take their bows and arrows outside for target practice, their goal being to hit the bullseye attached to a hay bale. Do you ever feel like the pastor’s kids are super-targeted by the enemy as he seeks to destroy their innocence, testimony, friendships and family-life?
Our family recently had a 12+ hour drive before us and the kids played several movies on a tiny screen as we traveled. I listened in a new way to the storyline of ‘The Incredibles 2’ as it played in the seat behind me. Mr. and Mrs. Incredible and their three children, Violet, Dash, and Jack-Jack, seek to walk a three-fold impossible family balance: using their superpowers to help save the day for others, while trying to live undercover to abide by the new law that made super-heroes illegal, while ALSO trying to protect their kids from harm. I saw the parallels to a pastor’s family!
My mom-heart heard Violet’s words in a new way, “I renounce superpowers!” as she shoves her superhero costume into the dish drain and turns on the power-shredding garbage-disposal button hoping to be rid of what identifies her as a superhero’s kid. Are pastor’s kids ever tempted to RENOUNCE their identity as pastor’s kids? Ask them sometime; pray for them daily.
Here’s a 7-day list of TARGET Scripture prayers I compiled using the New Living Translation. I wrote the prayers in a similar format from my training with Moms in Prayer International. Please consider using them in your prayer time for your children.
“Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.” Psalm 127:4 (ESV)
MONDAY
2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 “So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with him. This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
Proverbs 2:1-4 “My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands. Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures.”
Lord God, I keep praying that ________would live a life worthy of Your call. Give ________ the power to accomplish all the good things his/her faith prompts him/her to do. May _______honor the name of the Lord Jesus by how he/she lives; made possible by Your grace. I pray that _________would listen to the wise counsel found in God’s Word, treasuring God’s commands. May _________ tune his/her ears to wisdom, concentrate on understanding, cry out for insight and ask for understanding today as he/she starts another week.
TUESDAY
Psalm 28:7 “The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.”
Proverbs 4:23, 25 “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech. Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you.”
Hebrews 12:2a “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.”
Proverbs 3:5-8 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones.”
Lord God, I ask You to be ________’s strength and shield as he/she trusts in You. May his/her heart be filled with joy and burst out in songs of thanksgiving. Guard _______’s heart above all else thus determining the course of his/her life. Protect _______ from the world’s influence and help him/her to avoid perverse talk and to stay away from corrupt speech; may the springs of life flow forth in and through him/her. May _______ fix his/her gaze on what lies before him/her, keeping his/her eyes on Jesus who perfects his/her faith. I pray that_______ would not depend on his/her own understanding but rather seek Your will in all. May ________ fear the Lord and turn from evil. I pray that You would heal _______’s body physically, emotionally and spiritually.
WEDNESDAY
Daniel 1
Psalm 1:1-3 “Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.”
Galatians 5:22-23 “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”
Lord God, I pray that ______would have wise and godly friends (as Daniel had Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) and that TOGETHER they would stand firm in Your truth, avoiding the way of the wicked. May_______’s delight be in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. May he/she be like trees planted along the riverbank of God’s Word, bearing spiritual fruit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) in every season, prospering in all he/she does.
THURSDAY
Isaiah 30:19-21 “O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will be gracious if you ask for help. He will surely respond to the sound of your cries. Though the Lord gave you adversity for food and suffering for drink, he will still be with you to teach you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes. Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left.”
Psalm 34:13 “Then keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies.”
Psalm 19:14, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
Lord God, I pray that You would be gracious to ________ when he/she asks You for help. May he/she weep no more as You respond to his/her cries. Use adversity and suffering to teach _______ that You care deeply and promise to never leave or forsake us. I ask that You keep ________honest in words and actions. Keep _________’s tongue from evil and lips from speaking lies. I pray that all his/her words would be pleasing to You and edifying to others. May ________’s heart also be pleasing to You and may he/she declare that You are his/her Rock and Redeemer.
FRIDAY
Galatians 5:25 “Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.”
Psalm 121:1-3 “I look up to the mountains-does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth! He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber.”
Lord God, help _______to live by and follow the Spirit’s every leading. Let _______not become conceited or proud, realizing his/her talents and abilities come from You. May ________lift his/her eyes to the hills and mountains of Your creation and know his/her help comes solely from You. Let ________not stumble but keep him/her on the path You have mapped out. Watch over ________ even as he/she sleeps, being mindful and thankful that You do not slumber.
SATURDAY
Ecclesiastes 9:10a “Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
Ecclesiastes 11:6 “Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another- or maybe both.”
Matthew 6:20-21 “Store your treasures in heaven, where moth and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”
Lord God, I pray that _________would be diligent in his/her work, doing well in whatever he/she does realizing the eternal value in storing up treasures in Heaven. May You bless, confirm, and establish everything he/she puts effort into.
SUNDAY
Psalm 122:1 “I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
Isaiah 40:29-31 “He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”
Numbers 6:25-26 “May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.”
Lord God, may ________be glad to meet in Your house to worship and fellowship. If he/she gets tired of attending church as a pastor’s kid, may he/she rely on Your strength and soar high on wings like eagles, run and not grow weary, walk and not faint. May _______ trust in You to find new strength. I boldly ask that You would keep________from long periods of rebellion, that he/she might come to saving faith in Jesus Christ early on. I pray that ________would love, serve and follow JESUS all the days of his/her life. May the Lord smile on ________ be gracious to him/her. May the Lord show ________His favor and give him/her peace.
