Dear Friends,
There is something about the beginning of a new school year that can make a mother’s heart stretch in two directions at once.
We are excited to watch our children grow, learn, and step into new opportunities. At the same time, we know we cannot follow them into every classroom, friendship, conversation, or decision. We can pack the lunch, offer the reminder, set the boundary, and send the text—but we cannot control everything that waits beyond the front door.
Isn’t that one of the hardest parts of loving them?
The good news is that our children never go anywhere God is not already present. He sees what we cannot see. He understands what they may not know how to tell us. And He loves them even more deeply than we do.
That is why prayer matters so much. Prayer is not simply what we turn to when our own efforts fall short. It is how we place the children we love into the faithful hands of the One who knows exactly what they need.
In this week’s issue, Lysa TerKeurst gives us seven Scripture-rooted prayers to pray over our children. You’ll also find simple ways to make God’s Word part of your family’s daily rhythm, and practical encouragement for parenting in a digital world that is always competing for our attention.
Whether you are walking a little one to the bus stop, helping a teenager navigate new pressures, or praying for a grown child from a distance, we pray these articles remind you that you do not carry this season alone. God goes before your children—and He walks beside you, too.
Encouraging you in God’s truth,
Seven Scriptural Prayers to Pray For Your Kids | Lysa TerKeurst
When you are unsure what to pray for your child, Scripture gives you language. Lysa offers seven focused prayers for healing, courage, wisdom, character, and spiritual protection—words you can return to long after the first day of school.
A School Year Blessing | Lisa Maples
A packed school day leaves little room for elaborate routines. Lisa Maples offers a simple blessing for morning, afternoon, and evening, showing how ordinary transitions can become opportunities to return to God’s Word.
Raising Kids in a Digital World | Dr. Sylvia Hart Frejd
Technology keeps changing, but the need for thoughtful, connected parenting does not. Dr. Frejd brings research-informed guidance to screen time, social media, and the example parents set through their own device habits.
Also:
Seven Scriptural Prayers to Pray For Your Kids
Trusting God With the Children You Love Most.
By Lysa TerKeurst
There was something I came to realize pretty early in my journey as a mom that I needed to guard against: Sometimes I wanted to be completely in charge of my kids’ lives … more than even God.
I wanted to write their stories.
I wanted to set the course for their futures.
I wanted to determine what was best for them.
I wanted to prevent them from ever being hurt.
I wanted to be their provider and protector.
Can you relate on any level? I think most moms can. We love these people God has entrusted to us more than we ever knew possible. And whether your kids are still in diapers or grown adults like mine are now … they are ours. To love. To lead.
And we want to make it all good.
But then things happen—so far beyond our control we eventually have to face the reality that we aren’t God. And we can’t operate as if we are.
What Do We Do With the Gap?
So, what do we do with that gap where our mom capabilities end and trusting God begins? It’s especially hard in seasons of uncertainty where everything feels scary. Every decision feels risky. And scary and risky are two words we moms don’t want as part of our kids’ lives.
How do we deepen our trust in God? How do we make peace with the limits of what we can and cannot protect our children from? What do we do with the risky and scary feelings that can make a mom lose sleep at best—and feel crazed with fear at worst?
We must fill that gap with the only thing that bridges the space between our limitations and our trust in God: prayer.
