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BLESS: A Systematic Weekly Method to Pray for Your Child
August 17, 2020
BLESS: A Systematic Weekly Method to Pray for the Whole Child
Christian parents often desire to pray for their children, but having a consistent time and method set aside to do that can get lost in our day-to-day busy lives. Many wonderful tools are available to help us pray for our children. My daughters are 28 and 25, and a tool I relied on heavily to help guide my prayers was a book called The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian. It was a wonderful tool, but once I I returned to the workforce life got a little hectic around our house. I desired to find a systematic method to pray for them that could easily be on my mind and would be varied enough to encompass the whole child. I’m not sure where I heard about the B.L.E.S.S. acronym, but it has certainly been an easy, effective, and thorough tool throughout the years to help me pray for my daughters, students, friends, and family.
Here’s how it works with some specific suggestions for each day’s topic to get you started:
B - on Monday pray for things related to their Body:
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their health and safety
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to have an appropriate view of their own body
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to have a desire to take care of their body, eat right, and exercise
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that others would respect and protect their body
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that God would help them to flee physical temptations
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that God would make us aware of anything we need to know about their health and well-being
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that they would always use their body to honor and glorify God
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies” (I Corinthians 6:19-20).
L - on Tuesday pray for things related to their Labor:
- for diligence and progress at school (because when you are young, school is your #1 “job”)
- that they would have the ability to learn and understand challenging concepts
- that they would love to learn and grow and see their own progress
- that God would give them a desire and gifting for their particular future career path
- that their work ethic and integrity would shine in all endeavors
- that when they have a job, God would use them in that environment to share the gospel
- that they would have a healthy view of money and acknowledge that God is the source of our income
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23-24).
E - on Wednesday pray for things related to their Emotions:
- that they believe the truth about who God says they are versus the lies of the enemy
- that they truly grasp how loved they are by God, us, and others
- that they would not be ruled by their fear and emotions but by facts and truth
- that they would learn to use the Word of God to conquer difficult emotions
- that they would choose joy and gratitude in every situation
- that they would deal with stress in healthy ways
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that we would keep an open dialogue to discuss their emotions and how to deal with them
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).
S - on Thursday pray for things related to their Spiritual Growth and Well-Being:
- that they would be saved and have an insatiable hunger for God and His Word
- that their love for God would grow and exceed their love for the things of this world
- that they would be honest about their doubts, so we can investigate those together
- that God would leave fingerprints of His presence all over their day
- that they would have opportunities to grow in their faith and be strong in the face of persecution
- that they would walk in obedience to God’s commands and His best for their lives
- that they would have opportunities to live out and share the Gospel with others
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:8-10).
S - on Friday pray for things related to their Social Life:
- for godly, like-minded friends and family to do life with
- for their future spouse
- for drama and temptation to be absent or called out when present
- for there to be mutual love and respect between them and their friends
- for them to be repulsed by sin and the things of this world as He shapes their desires
- for us to have supernatural insight and discernment when it comes to their relationships
- for wonderful, healthy memories to be made in their social situations
- for our house to be the place where friends and family would hang out and create those memories
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing” (I Thessalonians 5:11).
This easy-to-remember acronym can help keep your prayers focused and fresh during those busy school weeks as you remember what day it is and pray accordingly. The power of a praying parent cannot be overestimated! May we never fail to lift up our children to the throne of God daily!
Download a printable pdf to help remind you to pray for your children each weekday.
“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers” (Psalm 1:1-3).
Terry Reichert has been a Bible teacher at Christian Middle School for 14 years. She holds a Bachelor of Science in English Education and is a small group leader and marriage mentor for engaged couples with her husband at her church.
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Prayer