5 Things to Pray for the Unborn Child
My wife gave birth to our 3rd baby, our 2nd son, yesterday morning. There's nothing like getting to meet the baby you've been waiting for, preparing for, and praying for. There's nothing like finally getting to hold this little boy who's name has already become a part of our family's vocabulary and our family prayers.
Like many families, my wife and I had been praying for this child the entire pregnancy. Even when we had yet to hold him, yet to hear him cry, we lifted him up on a daily basis. It might seem strange to pray for someone you've never met or challenging to know how to pray when you don't know all of the needs they will have, but the Bible gives us guidance in this area, granting direction in how to pray for the unborn child.
5 Things to Pray for the Unborn Child:
(1) Pray that this baby would be fully dedicated to the Lord. In 1 Samuel 1:11, Hannah prayed, even before she was pregnant, that the Lord would give her a child that would be fully dedicated to the Lord. He answered her prayer, and her son, Samuel, was given to God. Every child God gives will be devoted to something, passionate about something, investing their affections in something. Let it be the Lord, and let our prayers for such begin now.
(2) Praise the Lord for this blessing. When Mary goes to visit Elizabeth in Luke 1, Elizabeth exclaimed, "Blessed is the fruit of your womb!" Now, the fruit of Mary's womb was Jesus, and the blessing He brought blessed all nations (Gen. 12:3; Gal. 3:8), but I still aim to emulate this outburst of praise that recognizes that the unborn child is, already, a blessing from the Lord. As James writes, every good gift is from above, coming down from the Father.
(3) Pray that this baby would walk well. Every parent of a newborn longs for those first steps, that day that their baby pulls up and starts walking. We encourage these steps, we celebrate them, & we know they are part of healthy growth. In Colossians 1, Paul prays that the church would "walk in a manner worthy of the Lord." So before their first steps, before their first day, let us pray Colossians 1 over the baby in the womb, longing for the day they spiritually walk well, worthy of the Lord. And as they do, let us encourage these spiritual steps, celebrate them, and recognize that they are part of healthy growth.
(4) Pray that this baby would know the Lord and His purpose. The Bible speaks often about the unborn child. One of the most famous passages is Jeremiah's call in Jeremiah 1, when the Lord says to Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." Before he was born, Jeremiah was known by God, consecrated by God, and appointed by God. It is clear that the Lord has a plan, a purpose for the unborn child. And it's not just for Jeremiah. Psalm 139 proclaims that the Lord forms our inward parts and knits us together in our mother's womb, fearfully and wonderfully making us in His image, according to His purposes. He has ordained our days and so we pray that the next generation of babies will come to know God's sovereign will for their lives, and that they would obediently and passionately live out this calling. And we pray that they will not only know the Lord's will, but that they would also, simply put, know the Lord who formed them, for to know Him is eternal life (John 17:3). Throughout each of our 3 pregnancies, my wife and I have prayed constantly that Gracie, Silas & Elijah would come to know Jesus at an early age.
(5) Pray for purity. Paul tells the young Timothy to set an example in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity (1 Timothy 4:12). As we live in a, seemingly, increasingly impure world, and since we just had a baby boy, I found many of my prayers these last 40 weeks focusing on the last word of this verse, asking Christ for the purity of my son; that he would, like young Timothy, set an example of purity to others. That he would, like Job, make a covenant with his eyes for the sake of purity (Job 31:1).
I know there are many more things we should pray for the unborn child, but here are 5 to get your family started.
Jonathan Williams is the founder of Gospel Family Ministries and the Senior Pastor of Wilcrest Baptist Church, a multi-ethnic church of 44 nations located in Houston, TX. He and his wife are blessed with three wonderful children.
