Part Six: Prayers For Nurturing Faith And Character - To Light Their Way

: Prayers for Nurturing Faith and Character

TWICE A YEAR, my husband and I attend parent-teacher conferences. The teachers send home report cards prior to the meetings, and before we pull up to the school, I make sure to flip through the kids’ folders of drawings, essays, and test scores. But when we ask our kids what we should expect when we walk through the classroom door and wiggle into the too-small chairs to talk with their teachers, we’re not talking about assessments and homework. We’re talking about their character.

We care more about who they are than what they accomplish.

While I deeply desire for my kids to be lifelong learners and to try their best in all they do, their integrity, empathy, and compassion matter more to me than any standardized test score.

When I think about my son’s first-grade conferences, I don’t remember how many addition and subtraction facts he memorized, but I do remember hearing that he kept an eye out for anyone who sat on the playground “buddy bench.” When a student was feeling left out at recess, they could sit on the bench to signal to others that they could use a friend. As I heard my son’s teacher share about how he eagerly widened his playground circle to include the lonely, I learned more about his character than a report card could ever reflect.

I find myself praying less about the success my kids achieve in the eyes of the world and more for the fruit of the Spirit to grow in their lives. My kids love to blurt out an old Sunday school song that says, “The fruit of the Spirit is not a watermelon!” Even as they get older, they love filling in the blank with all sorts of fruit: strawberry, mango, banana. The catchy tune then shares what the fruit of the Spirit actually is: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (see Galatians 5:22-23).

This truth reorients me to the true markings of life in Christ. What a refreshing reminder that my worth is wrapped up not in what I achieve but in who I am in God’s cosmic knowing. When I untangle myself from what the world deems worthy, I can see with new eyes what is truly important in my life—and in my hopes and longings for my children, too.

In the New Testament we read about Timothy’s ministry. When I think about nurturing faith and character in children, two names that come to mind are Lois and Eunice—Timothy’s grandmother and mother. Their lives had eternal reverberations, greatly influencing Timothy’s life in Christ. In fact, Paul underlined this familial foundation in a letter to him: “I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you” (2 Timothy 1:5, NLT).

This doesn’t mean that Timothy was flawless—he had struggles and pain points in his life just like the rest of us. But when the winds of adversity surrounded him, he had a strong foundation in the love of God, built by his family.

I have no doubt that the women who raised Timothy prayed for the boy he was and the man he became. Their faithfulness cultivated a Christlike character at an early age (see 2 Timothy 3:15). As a mentor, Paul taught and encouraged young Timothy, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12).

As we know, no child or parent is perfect. But when we learn of the seemingly small acts of faithfulness, like the unexpected mercy of a child extending playground friendship, we catch a glimmer of our prayers being answered in the lives of our children. And we see who we—and our children–—are truly called to be in Christ. What a relief it is that grace is freely given (see Ephesians 1:6), no tests required.

May this section of prayers and liturgies help you invite God into the cries of your heart for your child’s character. From asking for God to guide them on their faith journey to turning to the Spirit for holy help in raising families that resist the lure of consumerism, the following prayers are for nourishing your child’s inner life. And perhaps you’ll find yourself being filled and transformed in new ways too.