How to Intentionally Speak Life over Your Kids

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The following is a guest post from one of my best friends, Amy. She is a friend who loves Jesus and lives out a transforming faith. Not only is she a worship leader, she lives a life of worship, surrendering to Jesus and pointing others toward Him. Find out more about Amy in her bio below and by visiting her blog.

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How to Intentionally Speak LIFE over your Kids

I love getting my girlies ready for school in the mornings.

It’s always so relaxed; no one is running around. In fact, we have a lot of time for meaningful conversation while we eat my daily homemade pancakes, eggs and bacon breakfast as a family, and everything just seems to go as planned. (Insert wild laughter here.)

If this is a routine morning at your home, please let us into your best-kept secret! My mornings consist of…well, lets just be honest — chaos. There is yelling. Kids take different shifts of eating cereal – that’s right folks, cereal! We experience the hilarity of running around trying to find a lost shoe or furiously trying to find the missing forgotten page of homework that is due that day.

How do we Send our Kids off each Day?

Welcome to the reality of life as a mother trying to get our littles or big kids off to school. It’s no joke. After I drop them off I often have to take a few minutes just to decompress!

With life in full swing, it seems we have precious few minutes with our sweet ones in the morning. We are sending them off into the world. It might just be “school” to us, but to them, it is their world. How are we preparing them for life?

A couple years ago I was challenged from a Bible study with Priscilla Shirer about speaking into your kids. It was from a study on Gideon and the Lord’s conviction has stayed with me ever since.

Here’s a quick history lesson on Gideon. The Israelites were waiting for God to provide deliverance from the Midianites. God provided it through a man named Gideon. Gideon was threshing wheat hidden in a winepress when the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor” (Judges 6:12).

Gideon reminded the angel of the Lord that his clan was the weakest and he was the least in his father’s house (Judges 6:15). Basically, he was telling the angel of the Lord that he was no warrior! Gideon was also hiding from the Midianites, which seems to me like he was a timid, scared man.

However, one of the things the study pointed out was that the angel of the Lord was speaking into Gideon, speaking into who he was going to become. Let’s contemplate that for a moment —

• The angel of the Lord was speaking into who he was going to become.
• The angel of the Lord knew and believed who Gideon was going to become and spoke that over him.

Who will our Kids Become?

I vividly remember Priscilla explaining how the Lord used this text to lead her to speak truth into her own kids’ lives. I knew in that moment the Lord was calling me to do the same.

My kids have all sorts of things spoken into their lives each day and most are not necessarily things I want them to hear or believe. This seemed like a good way to counter those messages and make a difference.

How to Speak Life over your Kids

First off, there is no magic formula. Each child is different, so make sure you adjust it according to their needs.

Secondly, I incorporate scripture and biblical principles.

Thirdly, I have my kids stand or sit right in front of me one at a time, look me in the eyes, and repeat what I am saying back to me.

It might feel awkward when you first start.

I know my girls were thrown off at first and felt a little silly repeating what I said back to me. However, I encourage you to push through. They get used to it, you get used to it, and just think about the lasting effect in your kids as they have truth poured over them each day!

Here’s a working example with one of my girls…

Say each phrase and have your child repeat the phrase back to you:

“I am a child of God”
“God has a purpose and a plan for my life”
“I am very special”
“There is no one like me”
“I am called by name”
“I am beautiful on the inside and the outside”
“I will choose to walk with the Lord today”
“I will listen to Mommy and Daddy”
“I will have courage to make the right choices”
“I will be kind”
“I will put on the full armor of God”
“The helmet of salvation”
“The breastplate of righteousness”
“The shield of faith”
“The belt of truth”
“The sword of the Spirit”
“My feet will stand strong and be ready for battle”
“Mommy and Daddy love me”
“My family loves me”
“God loves me”
“And there’s nothing I can do to change that.”

Grab a FREE printable to help you speak Truth over your kids.

I always begin with Biblical truths and end with them putting on the full armor of God. According to their needs or things happening that day I change the middle principles around to fit their specific needs.

Chaotic mornings will probably never go away, but we can always take 3 minutes and stop before the kids leave for the day and regroup by speaking life over our kids.

If this seems daunting, don’t be overwhelmed. Take it one day at a time.

Give yourself some grace and don’t be discouraged if you miss a day. Try and create a habit and this practice of speaking into and over your children will leave them with life altering truth and character built right into who they will become.

How are we standing guard for our children?

Question for You ::

As a child, did anyone ever speak life into you? How did that impact you?

Resources for You ::

• Scriptures to pray for your Kids
• The importance of volunteering in your kids’ school
• For the days you feel like a failure as a mom
• community group for other Jesus-loving Mamas whose kids are attending public school

 

About Amy ::

I am a journeying Christ-follower, wife of a pastor, mother of three energetic, loving girls, worship leader and voice teacher. I love to bake, which is great because each person in our home has an insatiable sweet tooth. I blog at Broken Voice not Silent, where I enjoy writing about my heart and passion relating to worship. I am currently reconstructing the blog to expand its content. I’m all about authentic relationships and enjoy hosting friends and family for fun, food and games. I like to pretend I’m an athlete and enjoy running, swimming and working out, too.

 

 

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