The Power of a Dad’s Prayers

“The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” (James 5:16)

If this is true, that the prayers of a righteous person have great power, I wonder why we dad’s don’t pray more frequently for our children? If you’re a Christian dad, you undoubtedly pray from time-to-time for your kids when they’re facing some particular difficulty, illness, or sin issue. But wise dads make intercessory prayer for their kids as much a part of their parenting as playing ball with them or taking them to church on the weekend.

Many years ago, a man named William Law wrote a book called “A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life.” In one chapter he speaks of the ministry of intercessory prayer being both an expression of love for people and also a way by which our love for people can grow. When we give ourselves to God in prayer for anyone, we will also naturally seek their good. Followers of Jesus are called to extend this kind of love to our enemies; how much more so should we extend it to our own children? But if this feels like “just one more thing” to add to your already busy life, you’re not thinking about prayer biblically. Prayer is not simply an intellectual exercise we engage in so we can check off our spiritual boxes for the day. Prayer actually has great power to bring about real change in the lives of our children!

Not only that, but intercessory prayer has great power to change the dad who prays. Law writes:

“…if parents would make themselves advocates and intercessors with God for their children in this way, constantly applying to heaven on behalf of their children, nothing would be more likely not only to bless their children, but also to form and dispose their own minds to the performance of everything that was excellent and praiseworthy. Not only would they want their children to avoid the things of the world, but they would be likely to avoid those same things themselves in order to show their children how to live lives devoted to God…if a father daily specifically prayed to God that He would be pleased to inspire his children with true piety, great humility, holiness, and strict moderation, what would be more likely to make the father himself become exemplary in these virtues?” (A Serious Call to A Devout and Holy Life, 295-296)

In other words, when we give ourselves to regularly praying for Christian virtues to take root in the hearts of our children, God will use those same prayers to make us more careful and diligent in those very areas of our own lives. I not only think that what Law says here is true biblically, but I’ve seen the truth of it personally. It’s hard for me to pray that my kids would not idolize sports, and then go on idolizing sports in front of them. It’s hard for me to pray that they not get sucked into the blackhole of technology, while I myself am engrossed in my devices. (I’m not saying this kind of hypocrisy is impossible…only that it’s more difficult!)

So how about it dads? What kinds of blessings are our kids missing out on because of our sluggishness to pray? What kind of help to our own spiritual maturity are we forfeiting by neglecting to get on our knees on behalf of the children God has entrusted to our care? Our prayer lives may not yet be where they ought to be but we’re not condemned! Having received the grace of God freely given to all who trust in Christ Jesus, let us by that grace go forward this day and boldly approach the throne of our Father who is in heaven, pleading for his blessings to fall down upon our children here on earth. He is faithful! He will surely do it!