How to Pray When Your Child Has Special Needs: Part 2
The first post in this series discussed general ways to pray for kids with special needs. As promised the second post provides specific ideas of how and what to pray.
How to Pray
Finding time to pray while caring for a child with special can be almost impossible. Nevertheless, God commands us to pray, and whatever he commands us to do, he also enables us to accomplish. With that provision in mind, here are a few suggestions about how to honor God’s command:
- Pray daily. If you can set aside even a few minutes to sit down and pray, great. But if your child’s care doesn’t allow for that, be creative. Maybe you can pray while doing a mindless, daily task like making the bed or washing dishes. One mom interviewed in A Different Dream for My Child got a large print Bible so she could read and pray while pounding her daughter’s back, which was part of the little girl’s respiratory therapy regime.
- Start small. If you haven’t prayed on a daily basis for your child before now, set a small, achievable goal. Commit to praying five minutes a day for your child. Once you’re comfortable with that, increase the amount of time. In addition to praying for your child’s health, pray for caregivers and teachers, too.
- Start slow. Research shows it takes six weeks to form a new habit. So don’t add anything to your first small, daily goal until the six weeks are up.
What to Pray
You can pray for your child in many ways. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Each day of the week or month, ask God to develop a different character trait or fruit of the Spirit within your child. Ones that apply to children, no matter their ability level include love, joy, peace, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control and kindness.
- Pray scripture for your child each day. When my son, Allen, was at the height of his struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder caused by early medical trauma, I realized II Timothy 2: 21-22 spoke directly to his situation. So I began praying it for him every day. When God began fulfilling those scripture promises, I added II Timothy 3:14 – 15. As you find scriptures that speak to your child’s situation, begin praying them back to God.
Thirty Day Prayer Guide
One of my goals this year is to create a thirty day prayer guide for parents of kids with special needs. Each day would include a character trait or a fruit of the spirit to pray for your child, along with a pertinent scripture. If you have suggestions about what should be included, leave a comment. The more ideas the better.
Prayerfully yours,
Jolene Philo
