"So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:11 (NIV)

I lifted myself from my knees and wiped the tears of frustration from my eyes. Once again, I felt like my prayers had bounced off the ceiling and rolled into a dusty corner, unheard by God.

Since my children were babies, I have prayed for them. The prayers continued through their elementary school years. All during those years, I felt peace and confidence flow throughout my soul—God would be with my children. Of course, I "helped" Him with my wise mothering and daily prayers.

However, adolescence struck my family. Three teenagers infiltrated the serenity of motherhood. Suddenly, my children didn't listen to my wisdom. I couldn't protect them from outside influences any longer. All I could do was watch them spread their wings of independence and fly out of the cocoon of our home. Their eyes rolled at my advice. Their mouths wagged words at me. Their faith fluctuated.

I responded with fear and a feeling of failure that haunted my prayers. My words were cumbersome. My own faith faltered as I watched each of my children struggle with different issues in their lives. I asked myself, "What can I say to God to make a difference during these tumultuous years?" Discouragement dogged my prayer life.

However, God didn't want me to give up. He brought a friend who had been through a similar experience in her prayer life and had learned to pray Scripture for her children. She taught me how to choose a verse from the Bible that would fit my troubled teen's situation and apply it in prayer. My friend practiced with me praying the verse aloud and inserting my child's name to personalize it.

Within days, I felt my prayers begin to soar again. I no longer felt defeated, but knew I was praying divine prayers. Divine prayers that arose to the throne of God because of the promise, "So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11, NIV). As a mother, I no longer held the ability to control everything in my children's lives, but I could pray with God's power.

Thankfully, those turbulent teen years eventually passed. My children are now adults and I still pray for them using Bible verses, because His Word is purposeful and achieves its purpose. God's Word makes divine prayers.

Dear Lord, as I pray for my child, remind me to pray Your Word. Give me verses that will apply to my child and our situation. Increase my faith in believing that Your Word will achieve the purpose for which it is sent. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

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Related Resources:

Divine Prayers for Despairing Parents: Words to Pray When You Don't Know What to Say by Susanne Scheppmann

For Parents Only: Getting inside the Head of Your Kid by Shaunti Feldhahn and Lisa A. Rice

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Application Steps:

Search through your Bible concordance to find Scriptures that apply to your child and your situation. Find them in your Bible and highlight each one. Write them on index cards. Begin to pray these verses inserting your child's name. For example, "For God so loved your child's name that he gave his one and only Son" (John 3:16, NIV).

Reflections:

Have I given up praying for my child?

Why will praying Scripture increase my faith?

Do I believe in the divine power of God's Word?

Power Verses:

Psalms 119:89, "Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens." (NIV)

Psalms 119:105, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." (NIV)

Psalms 119:140, "Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them." (NIV)

© 2009 by Susanne Scheppmann. All rights reserved.