Do You Pray For Your Children?

For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him.

1 Samuel 1:27 ESV

When my daughter was born, she got very sick and had to spend a week in the NICU.

My eyes get misty and my chest gets tight even as I write these words, because we almost lost her.

In the hospital, they painted this verse on the wall just above her little bed in the NICU. And oh was it ever true!

We prayed so hard for our little baby, that God would sustain her life and help her heal.

He did, and she is alive and well today! But this verse beyond holding such experiential meaning for me is also a challenge.

During moments of crisis like when our kids get sick, for instance, we pray hard. We are desperate for God’s power and presence. So, we pray, pray, pray!

But what about after the crisis is over? Do we keep praying?

The woman who spoke the words in today’s devotional verse was Hannah. She was a woman who deeply wanted children, but she was barren and couldn’t have them.

So, she prayed hard… And even went beyond that.

When God granted her a son, the great prophet Samuel, she dedicated his entire life to God. She says in the next verse that: she “lent him to the LORD. As long as he lives he is lent to the LORD” (1 Sam 1:28).

The life God provided, she gave back to God. And Samuel was bathed in prayer.

In fact, you can read one of the most powerful prayers recorded in Scripture in 1 Samuel 2:1–11.

The experience with my daughter reminds me that we must pray for our children in crisis. But the life of Hannah challenges me that we must keep praying daily, dedicating their lives to God.

Do you pray for your children daily? And do you pray and live so their lives are dedicated to God, just like Samuel’s?