How To Speak Life Over Your Children

This Sunday, our pastor touched on something that I know I need to do more of, and that’s declaring the word over my children. He said, that as parents, it’s our job to help our kids fully unlock the power that God’s given them. God fashioned our kids and placed them here for a very specific purpose. There is greatness on every single one of them, and the devil will try to do all that he can to rob our kids of their destiny.

No matter how old our kids are or even if they’ve yet to be born, we can start now speaking life over them. We don’t have to wait until they’re old enough to understand what we’re speaking over them or when they’re heading out of our care and off to college. Here are a few ways you can get started.

Give your child a meaningful name.

Whether it’s their legal name or a nickname, call your child a name that conveys the authority and power that’s in them. I can’t remember where I heard this, but before I had my first child, someone said to give your child a powerful name so that every time you say his or her name (even if you’re upset with them), you’re speaking greatness over your child’s life. I thought this was excellent advice and took it to heart. For each of our kids, hubbie and I scoured the Bible for names with strong meanings and given to people who made a significant mark on God’s kingdom. For example, Gabriel was the angel who told the virgin Mary that she would bear a child name Jesus. The name means God is my strength and courage, a strong man of God, hero of God. Every time someone calls Gabriel’s name, they are declaring him a strong man of God. We also have Christiana (follower of Christ) and Samuel (God heard, God’s heart, and requested of God).

Don’t worry–even if this thought didn’t occur to you when you were naming your child. You can still give them a strong nickname. Although I thought the nickname Bubba would be perfect for Gabriel, hubbie wisely nixed the idea. Now, I call both boys my warriors, and I’m continuously explaining to them what a warrior is, how he behaves and thinks. A warrior fights. He’s strong. Always prepared for battle. He’s courageous. He doesn’t back down. And you know what, the boys’ are starting to take it to heart. When I ask, “What are you?”, they’ll respond with “We’re warriors.” If one of them is scared of something or being whiny, I’ll remind them of how warriors behave. Sometimes, all I have to say is you’re not acting like a warrior, and they’re behavior instantly changes.

One of the other things I did is to write out their names, the meanings of their names and scriptures where their names are mentioned in the bible and hung it on their rooms. Every so often I Red this to them so that charge will get in them.

Pray for your child.

Praying for my children is something that I haven’t always done consistently but am starting to do more and more. My pastor recommended that we ask God to show us our child’s giftings and how best to nurture them. Pray that He gives our children the desire to love Him and do His will. Ask for God’s blessings over their lives. Even talk about the dreams we have for our children. We should also be specific about the areas where we need help in regards to our children.

Speak scriptures or positive affirmations over your child, in front of your child.

I’ve started doing this recently, and I have to tell you it’s pretty awkward at first. I got the idea from this sweet lady at our church who’s well-known and loved for the way she declares blessings over the children in our church. For instance, when she sees our boys, she’ll greet them with a “Hello, you mighty men of god! You all are blessed and highly favored. You will do great things in God’s kingdom. You are great men of God.” As a mom, I love that! After awhile though, I started thinking, why should this church member be the only one declaring positive things over my children’s lives. They should hear those things from their own parents first.

You can pick several scriptures, insert your child’s name in them and start speaking it to them. For example, “Samuel, God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power and love and of sound mind (II Timothy 1:7).” You can also do the same with inspirational sayings and quotations.

I hope all you parents (and grandparents, godparents, friends, aunts, uncles, etc.) out there here me on this because I believe it’s so critical. We are living in some crazy times, and our children are on the devil’s radar. Make sure he doesn’t have an opening to reach the children in your lives. Also, do know that I talk about these not to make you feel bad about what you’re doing or not doing. Trust me, I don’t get it right all the time. However, what I do have is a desire to do better and be a better parent–and I imagine you all do too. So, let’s do this together. If you need help or accountability in this area, feel free to send me an email.

Your turn…tell me what you think. Do you have any other ideas for speaking life over your children. I’d love to hear from you.