Doing Battle on Their Behalf

By Kim Butts

Author Stormie Omartian, in her book The Power of a Praying Parent, says, “The battle for our children’s lives is waged on our knees. When we don’t pray, it’s like sitting on the sidelines watching our children in a war zone getting shot at from every angle. When we do pray, we’re in the battle alongside them, appropriating God’s power on their behalf.”

She also says, “Whenever you pray for your child, do it as if you are interceding for his or her life—because that’s exactly what you are doing. Remember that while God has a perfect plan for our children’s lives, Satan has a plan for them too.”¹

We have an enemy who wishes to damage our children. He wants their hearts and their minds. We are in a battle for the lives of our children, and, as previously quoted, the battle can only be waged on our knees in prayer. We can’t wish the enemy wouldn’t bother them or hope he will go away. We can, however, defeat him by the power of the Word of the Living God.

Take a Stand

Read carefully and claim the mighty message of Ephesians 6:10–13:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

We can defeat the enemy because we are enabled to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. We can put on the full armor of God in order to take our stand against any scheme the devil might attempt to throw at our children. This armor will allow us to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, and it will allow us to defeat the enemy as we wield the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God!

Jesus defeated the enemy using the Word whenever Satan began to tempt or try to do Him physical harm (Matt. 4:4–11). His example should be our own, because the enemy’s tactics are still at work today. Satan wishes to cause our children to fall morally and spiritually. He desires to poison the minds of our children so that they will be unable to be of service to the Living God.

As parents, grandparents, teachers, youth workers—and others with children in our spheres of influence—we must stand firm against the enemy and declare that he cannot have the minds of our children. We must fight for them in faithful prayer and teach them to fight for themselves! It is foolish and dangerous to ignore the schemes of Satan, for he is powerful and looking for every weakness.

This is a lifelong battle, and we must never let down our guard. We must diligently pray and teach our children how to pray the Word of God as a sure defense against the one who continually seeks to destroy. Only through the powerful Word can victory be won over our sinful natures and the enemy.

Prayers of Truth and Power

Here are some specific ways to pray that the minds of your children and grandchildren will be protected against the deceptions and schemes of Satan—and are instead saturated with the mind of Christ:

• Pray that your children’s minds will be controlled by the Holy Spirit so that they can be pleasing to God and filled with life and peace. “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so” (Rom. 8:5–7).

Sample Prayer: Holy God, give my children the mind of the Spirit, set upon what the Spirit desires so that their lives will be characterized by life and peace. Help them to fight against the sinful mind that the enemy would seek to place within them, so that they will live lives submitted completely to You.

• Pray that your children will continually ask the Lord to examine their hearts and minds so that they will be able to walk in truth and purity. “Test me, Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness” (Ps. 26:2–3).
• Pray that your children will use their minds to understand and search out wisdom so that they can recognize the stupidity of wickedness. “So I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly” (Eccl. 7:25).
• Pray that their minds will be steadfast as they trust in the Lord. “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal” (Isa. 26:3-4).
• Pray that your children will keep the greatness of the Lord’s faithfulness always in their minds, so that they will have hope. “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lam. 3:21–23).
• Pray that your children will always have the mind of Christ. “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).
• Pray that your children’s minds will never be led astray, and that they will always have sincere and pure devotion to Christ. “But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:3).
• Pray that your children’s minds will be saturated with God’s peace in every trial and difficult circumstance. “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7).
• Pray that your children will be drawn to value spiritual truths over earthly things. “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Col. 3:2).
• Pray that your children’s minds will always be prepared for action, so that they can live out lives of holiness. “Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:13–16).

Now that you have the Lord’s perfect strategy for keeping the minds of your children protected from Satan, be diligent in your prayers. Be consistent in your teaching of the Word and in your personal study and devotion. Most of all, be a godly example for your children and grandchildren to follow as they mature in Christ.

¹ Stormie Omartian, The Power of a Praying Parent, (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1982).

KIM BUTTS is the co-founder of Harvest Prayer Ministries and the author of The Praying Family, available from prayershop.org.

(C) 2013 Prayer Connect magazine.