Introduction: The Power of Praying for Others
One of the most profound ways children can impact the world is through intercessory prayer—standing in the gap for others before God's throne. James 5:16 declares that "the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective," and this includes the prayers of children. When we teach our children to intercede for others, we're not only developing their prayer lives—we're cultivating compassion, empathy, and a Kingdom mindset that looks beyond personal needs to the needs of others.
Intercessory prayer shifts children's perspective from self-centered requests to others-focused petitions. It teaches them that they have real power to influence circumstances, comfort the hurting, and partner with God in His work around the world. Children who develop a heart for intercession become adults who actively participate in God's redemptive work, recognizing that prayer isn't passive—it's the most active and strategic thing we can do.
This comprehensive guide will equip you to raise children who are confident, effective intercessors. We'll explore biblical foundations, age-appropriate strategies, practical methods, and ways to overcome common obstacles. Whether your child is just beginning to pray beyond "bless my day" or is ready to engage in deeper spiritual warfare intercession, this guide provides the tools you need.
Biblical Foundation for Intercessory Prayer
What Is Intercession?
Intercession is praying on behalf of others—standing between God and those who need His intervention, healing, provision, or protection. It's advocacy in prayer form. Biblical intercessors include Abraham pleading for Sodom (Genesis 18:22-33), Moses standing between God and rebellious Israel (Exodus 32:30-32), and Jesus Himself, who "always lives to intercede" for us (Hebrews 7:25).
Help your children understand that intercession isn't just asking God to bless someone—it's engaging in spiritual partnership with God to accomplish His purposes in others' lives. It requires faith (believing God will act), compassion (caring about others' needs), and perseverance (continuing to pray even when answers aren't immediate).
Key Scriptures to Study Together
- •1 Timothy 2:1-4: Paul urges prayers and intercession for everyone, especially those in authority
- •Ezekiel 22:30: God looked for someone to "stand in the gap"—an intercessor
- •Romans 8:26-27: The Holy Spirit intercedes for us, teaching us the nature of intercession
- •Ephesians 6:18: We're called to pray "at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication"
- •Job 42:10: God restored Job when he prayed for his friends—intercession brings blessing
- •Luke 22:32: Jesus interceded for Peter, demonstrating personal, specific intercession
- •Colossians 4:12: Epaphras "always wrestling in prayer" for the Colossian believers
Jesus as Our Model Intercessor
Study Jesus' intercessory prayer in John 17, where He prays for His disciples and all future believers. Notice how He prays specifically, passionately, and with clear purposes in mind. Jesus' intercession shows us that effective prayer for others includes protection (verse 11), sanctification (verse 17), unity (verse 21), and glory (verse 24). Use this prayer as a template for teaching children comprehensive intercession.
Age-Appropriate Approaches to Teaching Intercession
Elementary Age (6-10 Years): Building the Foundation
At this age, children are developing empathy and beginning to understand that others have real needs. They're concrete thinkers who need tangible examples and clear explanations. Focus on:
Identifying Needs: Help children notice when others are hurting, sick, sad, or struggling. Ask questions like, "How do you think Sarah felt when her grandpa died?" or "What do you think your friend needs right now?" This builds the awareness necessary for intercession.
Simple, Specific Prayers: Teach children to pray specifically rather than generically. Instead of "Bless everyone," guide them toward "Please help Mrs. Johnson feel better from her cold" or "Give my friend courage for his doctor appointment tomorrow."
Visual Aids: Use prayer lists with names and pictures, world maps for missionary prayer, or a family prayer board where children can post prayer requests they've heard. Visual reminders help concrete thinkers remember to pray consistently.
Immediate Concerns: Elementary children connect best with immediate, observable needs—a sick family member, a friend facing a test, a neighbor who lost a job. Start with these before expanding to abstract or distant needs.
Preteen Age (11-12 Years): Deepening Understanding
Preteens are developing abstract thinking and can grasp more complex spiritual concepts. They're also highly aware of social issues and injustice. Focus on:
Understanding Spiritual Dynamics: Teach preteens that intercession isn't just asking God to do things—it's partnering with Him in spiritual warfare, agreeing with His will, and releasing His power. They can understand Ephesians 6:12 and the reality of spiritual battles.
Persistent Prayer: Use Jesus' teaching on persistence in Luke 18:1-8 (the persistent widow) to help preteens understand that intercession sometimes requires ongoing, repeated prayer. This combats the "one-and-done" mentality.
Broader Concerns: Preteens can intercede for broader issues—persecuted Christians, natural disaster victims, political leaders, social justice issues, and global concerns. Connect their growing awareness of world issues to prayer.
Praying Scripture: Teach preteens to pray biblical prayers and promises over others. For example, praying Ephesians 1:17-19 for a friend to know God better, or Philippians 1:9-11 for a youth group to grow in love and discernment.
Teen Age (13-18 Years): Mature Intercession
Teenagers can engage in sophisticated intercession that includes spiritual warfare, complex situations, and long-term prayer commitments. Focus on:
Strategic Intercession: Teach teens to seek God's specific strategies for prayer rather than just listing needs. This might include praying scripture, spiritual warfare, worship-based intercession, or prophetic intercession (praying what they sense God wants to do).
Intercession for Calling: Teens can pray into their generation's calling—for revival in schools, transformation in culture, awakening in the church, and evangelism among their peers. Help them see themselves as agents of change through prayer.
Personal Responsibility: Challenge teens to "adopt" specific people or situations for consistent intercession—a friend who doesn't know Christ, a missionary family, a troubled classmate, a challenging teacher, or a community issue.
Fasting and Intercession: Teens can combine fasting with intercession for intensified prayer (we'll cover this more in our article on fasting and prayer). This demonstrates the seriousness and spiritual authority of intercession.
Practical Methods for Teaching Intercessory Prayer
The ACTS Model Adapted for Intercession
The traditional ACTS model (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) can be adapted for intercessory prayer:
- •Adoration: Begin by worshiping God for who He is—particularly attributes relevant to the prayer need (Healer, Provider, Protector, Comforter)
- •Agreement: Align with God's word and will regarding the situation, declaring scriptural truths
- •Authority: Pray from a position of spiritual authority as children of God, resisting enemy opposition
- •Ask: Make specific requests on behalf of the person or situation
- •Assurance: End with faith-filled affirmations, thanking God in advance for His work
Prayer Lists and Journals
Help children maintain organized intercession through:
The Weekly Prayer List: Assign different people or categories to different days (Monday: family, Tuesday: friends, Wednesday: church leaders, Thursday: missionaries, Friday: government leaders, Saturday: neighbors, Sunday: global needs). This ensures comprehensive, consistent intercession.
The Prayer Journal: Encourage older children to keep a prayer journal with sections for different prayer focuses. Include space to record prayers, dates, and answers. Reviewing answered prayers builds faith and motivates continued intercession.
The Prayer Box: Create a family prayer box where members write requests on slips of paper. During family prayer time, draw several requests and pray together. When prayers are answered, move them to an "answered prayers" box.
Interactive Prayer Methods
Prayer Walking (covered extensively in our dedicated article): Walk through your neighborhood, school campus, or community while praying for specific houses, families, or locations. This makes intercession active and concrete.
World Map Prayers: Use a world map or globe to pray for different nations, people groups, or missionary locations. Elementary children especially benefit from this visual, geographical approach.
News-Based Intercession: Watch or read news together and immediately pray for situations, leaders, victims, or communities mentioned. This teaches children that prayer is a powerful response to world events.
Prayer Stations: Set up stations in your home representing different prayer focuses (missionary station with pictures and information, community station with local newspaper, family station with family photos, church station with directory). Children rotate through stations, praying at each.
Scripture-Based Intercession
Teach children to pray God's Word over others. Provide them with scriptural prayer templates they can personalize:
- •For Salvation: "Father, I pray that [name]'s heart would be open to the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4), that someone would share Your love with them (Romans 10:14), and that they would believe in Jesus and be saved (Romans 10:9-10)."
- •For Wisdom: "Lord, please give [name] wisdom from above (James 1:5), help them make decisions that honor You (Proverbs 3:5-6), and grant them discernment (Philippians 1:9-10)."
- •For Healing: "Healer, I ask for Your healing touch on [name] (Psalm 103:3), restoration of their health (Jeremiah 30:17), and comfort in their suffering (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)."
- •For Protection: "Protector, I ask that You would be a shield around [name] (Psalm 3:3), guard them from evil (2 Thessalonians 3:3), and send Your angels to watch over them (Psalm 91:11)."
Teaching Compassionate Intercession
Developing Empathy Through Stories
Use Bible stories to develop empathy and illustrate intercessory prayer:
- •The Persistent Friend (Luke 11:5-8): Teaches persistence in intercession and advocacy for others' needs
- •The Four Friends (Mark 2:1-12): Demonstrates creative, determined intercession that brings others to Jesus
- •Moses Interceding for Israel (Exodus 32:11-14): Shows bold intercession that changes God's declared intent
- •Esther's Intercession (Esther 4-5): Illustrates costly intercession that involves personal risk
- •Daniel's Intercession (Daniel 9): Models confessional intercession and persistent prayer despite spiritual opposition
Experiencing Others' Needs
Help children develop compassion that fuels intercession by experiencing others' circumstances:
- •Volunteer at homeless shelters, food banks, or hospitals to encounter real needs
- •Host or sponsor a child from another country, praying for them regularly
- •Invite missionaries to share stories that make distant needs personal
- •Read biographies of persecuted Christians to understand global suffering
- •Participate in fundraisers for causes, combining action with intercession
Cultivating a Heart That Breaks for What Breaks God's Heart
Teach children to notice what grieves God—injustice, suffering, lostness, broken relationships, oppression—and to respond with intercession. Ask questions like:
- •"What do you think makes God sad when He looks at our world?"
- •"If you could ask God to change one thing, what would it be?"
- •"Who do you know that needs God's help right now?"
- •"What would our community look like if God answered our prayers?"
Strategic Focus Areas for Children's Intercession
Family Intercession
Begin with the closest circle—teaching children to intercede for family members:
- •Pray for parents' work, health, decisions, and spiritual growth
- •Intercede for siblings' challenges, friendships, and character development
- •Pray for extended family members, especially those who don't know Christ
- •Intercede for family unity, protection, and God's purposes for your family
Create a family intercession time each week where members share needs and pray for each other. This models vulnerability and builds family bonds.
Friendship Intercession
Teach children to be prayer warriors for their friends:
- •Pray daily for friends by name, rotating through different friends each day
- •Intercede specifically for friends who don't know Jesus, asking for opportunities to share faith
- •Pray for friends facing challenges—bullying, family struggles, academic pressure, health issues
- •Organize prayer partners or small groups where friends pray for each other
School and Community Intercession
Expand intercession to the broader community:
- •Pray for teachers, administrators, and school staff by name
- •Intercede for school culture—safety, kindness, learning, and gospel witness
- •Pray for local government leaders, police, firefighters, and community servants
- •Intercede for local churches and ministry initiatives
- •Pray for businesses, especially those your family frequents
Consider organizing a "See You at the Pole" prayer event or starting a student prayer group at school (where permitted).
Global and Missionary Intercession
Broaden children's perspective to God's global Kingdom:
- •Adopt a missionary family to pray for regularly and correspond with
- •Use resources like Operation World or prayer cards to pray for unreached people groups
- •Pray for persecuted Christians using Voice of the Martyrs or Open Doors resources
- •Intercede for global crises—natural disasters, wars, famines, epidemics
- •Pray for Bible translation, evangelism initiatives, and church planting movements
Spiritual Leaders and Authority Figures
Teach children to pray for those in leadership:
- •Pastor, youth pastor, children's ministry leaders, and their families
- •President, governor, mayor, and other government officials (1 Timothy 2:1-2)
- •School principals, teachers, and coaches
- •Judges, law enforcement, and military personnel
Explain that leaders face unique spiritual attacks and need prayer covering. Write thank-you notes to leaders telling them you're praying for them.
Overcoming Obstacles in Teaching Intercession
When Children Think Their Prayers Don't Matter
Many children believe their prayers are less powerful than adults' prayers. Combat this lie with biblical truth and real examples:
- •Share stories of children in the Bible whom God used powerfully (Samuel, David, Josiah)
- •Tell historical accounts of children's prayers making a difference (like the Moravian children who prayed for missions)
- •Document and celebrate answers to your children's prayers
- •Remind them that Jesus welcomed children and valued them highly
- •Teach that prayer's power comes from God, not the person praying
When Prayers Seem Unanswered
Unanswered prayer can discourage young intercessors. Teach them:
- •God's Timing: Some prayers are answered "not yet" rather than "no"—share examples from your life
- •God's Wisdom: Sometimes God answers differently than we ask because He knows what's truly best
- •Perseverance: Some prayers require persistent, long-term intercession (Daniel 10:12-14)
- •Mystery: We don't always understand God's ways, but we trust His character
- •Spiritual Warfare: Sometimes there's genuine spiritual opposition requiring sustained prayer
Keep an "answered prayers" journal alongside current prayer lists to maintain perspective and build faith.
When Intercession Feels Overwhelming
Children can become overwhelmed by the world's needs. Teach them:
- •They can't pray for everything, but they can pray for specific things God lays on their hearts
- •Even one prayer for one person matters
- •The Holy Spirit guides our intercession—we don't carry the burden alone
- •Prayer is one part of response; action, giving, and service also matter
- •God is sovereign and at work even beyond our prayers
When Prayer Becomes Mechanical
Repetitive prayer lists can become rote. Keep intercession fresh by:
- •Varying prayer methods and formats regularly
- •Praying in different locations and postures
- •Combining prayer with worship, scripture reading, or communion
- •Asking children to listen for God's direction before praying
- •Sharing testimonies of answered prayers to renew excitement
Advanced Intercessory Prayer Concepts
Spiritual Warfare Intercession
For mature preteens and teens, teach the spiritual warfare dimension of intercession:
- •Understanding Ephesians 6:12—our battle is against spiritual forces, not people
- •Binding and loosing based on Matthew 18:18-19
- •Taking authority in Jesus' name (Luke 10:19)
- •Recognizing and resisting demonic strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)
- •Praying on the armor of God before engaging in spiritual warfare prayer
Balance this teaching carefully—emphasize Christ's victory and authority without creating fear or unhealthy fascination with the demonic.
Prophetic Intercession
Teach teens to ask God what He wants to do, then pray in agreement with His revealed purposes:
- •Listening prayer—waiting quietly for God's direction before praying
- •Praying God's promises and purposes as revealed in Scripture
- •Declaring God's intended outcomes rather than just asking for help
- •Praying with vision for what God can do, not just reaction to what's wrong
Corporate Intercession
Intercession isn't just individual—teach children the power of agreeing together in prayer:
- •Matthew 18:19-20—where two or three agree, Jesus is present
- •Acts 4:23-31—the early church's powerful corporate prayer
- •Organize family prayer meetings for specific needs or crises
- •Participate in church prayer gatherings and teach children to engage
- •Start prayer chains where requests are shared and prayed for by multiple people
Building a Family Culture of Intercession
Modeling Intercession
Children catch more than they're taught. Model intercessory prayer by:
- •Praying audibly for others in children's hearing
- •Sharing your prayer list and answered prayers
- •Responding to news, conversations, and needs with immediate prayer
- •Telling children when you're fasting and praying for something specific
- •Inviting children to join you in intercessory prayer times
Creating Prayer Rhythms
Establish regular intercession patterns:
- •Daily family prayer time focused on others
- •Weekly prayer meetings for extended intercession
- •Monthly prayer focus (missionaries one month, government leaders the next, etc.)
- •Annual prayer retreats or prayer weeks as a family
- •Spontaneous prayer in response to needs as they arise
Celebrating Answered Prayers
Make answered prayer a big deal in your family:
- •Ring a bell or have a special signal when prayers are answered
- •Create an answered prayer wall or scrapbook
- •Share answered prayers during family meals or devotions
- •Write thank-you prayers to God for specific answers
- •Tell extended family and friends about answered prayers, giving God glory
Resources for Teaching Intercessory Prayer
Books and Curricula
- •"The Prayer Map for Kids" by Barbour Publishing
- •"Prayer: Praying for God's Will" by Jill Briscoe
- •"Operation World" by Jason Mandryk (for global prayer)
- •"Kids' Guide to Prayer" series
- •"Rees Howells: Intercessor" by Norman Grubb (for teens)
Online Resources
- •Window International Prayer Guide for children
- •Prayercast.com for video prayer guides about nations
- •Joshua Project for unreached people group information
- •Operation World online prayer resources
- •Voice of the Martyrs kids' resources on persecuted Christians
Prayer Tools
- •Prayer journals designed for children
- •World maps and globes
- •Missionary prayer cards
- •Church directories for praying for members
- •Prayer reminder apps designed for families
Conclusion: Raising a Generation of Intercessors
Teaching children to intercede for others is one of the most Kingdom-impacting things we can do as parents. When children learn to pray for others, they develop compassion that extends beyond themselves, faith that moves mountains, and spiritual authority that transforms their world. They become partners with God in His redemptive work, wielding the most powerful weapon available—prayer.
Intercessory prayer equips children to respond to a broken world not with despair but with hope and action. Instead of feeling helpless in the face of suffering, injustice, or lostness, they know they have a direct line to the God who can do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine. They learn that their voice matters, their prayers are powerful, and their intercession makes a real difference.
Start today. Identify one person or situation your family can commit to praying for regularly. Teach your children that intercession isn't complicated—it's simply bringing others' needs before God with faith, compassion, and persistence. As you consistently practice intercession together, you'll watch your children's faith deepen, their compassion expand, and their spiritual impact multiply. You're raising prayer warriors who will change their world—one intercession at a time.