Responding to Prayer Burdens
As intercessors, an important part of our role is knowing how to recognize and respond to prayer burdens for our children. If we are paying attention, it is often easy to discern when our children are struggling. These struggles become a target of our prayers. However, at times the struggle will be hidden beneath the surface. Or, the prayer need will relate to an attack against our children that we cannot yet see in the natural. At these times, the Holy Spirit wants to alert us of the need so that we can intercede before we see the need for it in the natural. I call this sort of alert a prayer burden. Many times, we do not know why the burden has come, but the Spirit knows, and we can trust Him to guide us in our prayers so that we can release protection over our children in the spirit. Jesus promised that “the Spirit of truth” would “guide you into all the truth” and “tell you what is yet to come” (John 16:13). God wants to give us the inside scoop on what’s happening with our kids so that we can pray on their behalf.
One night, when Danielle was about 10 years old, I went into her bedroom to say goodnight and to pray over her. When I put my hand on her shoulder, I saw in my spirit what looked like darts coming to her mind. I knew these were fiery darts, or thoughts from the enemy (see Eph. 6:16), but I didn’t know what the thoughts were. Looking back, I now realize this warfare was a plot of the enemy to build a stronghold in her life. I wish I had done more to address this warfare—by teaching her how to resist the lies and by specifically interceding against what I saw. The warfare lasted about ten years.
One day, after Danielle graduated college, she told me what the warfare was, and I felt very annoyed with myself that I hadn’t been more aggressive in dealing with it—especially since God had given me this prayer burden on her behalf. Yet, God redeemed the years of struggle in her life, and she had a major encounter with God when she was praying alone in her apartment. Afterward, she told me, “Mommy I was instantly set free, and I have never been bombarded with those lies anymore.”
At another time, I was in my office praying for what I saw coming for future ministry, which included travel. I was praying for open doors and that God would go before me and prepare the way. While I was praying, I had a vision of my daughter Jaclyn. In the vision, I saw her sitting in her canopy bed with white curtains, and she was praying. I heard the Lord say to me, “There is another kind of praying going on in this house. She is praying that you won’t travel.” I was shocked! At that time, God had been speaking to me about a season of relaunch after the kids were older. Jaclyn must have heard me talking about it and thought it I was talking about traveling while she was still young.
I will never forget that day. I went to the bus stop to pick the kids up after school. When I saw Jaclyn get off the bus, I knew I had inside information on her! It was as real to me as the car I was sitting in. After giving the kids a snack, I took Jaclyn into my office, and I told her what the Lord had said to me. Immediately, she began to cry and told me all the things she was worried about and how much she needed me to be home. In response, I showed her Proverbs 31:16 (AMPC), which God used to tell me that my family must come first and that I should not to accept any speaking engagements that would cause hardship to my family. She was relieved. Through this spiritual alert, God helped me to see an issue in my daughter’s heart so that I could clear up the misunderstanding and prevent any breakdown in our relationship.
Spiritual prayer alerts can come to us in a variety of ways. The more we pay attention to the still small voice of God, the more likely we will be to catch these alerts and engage in prayer. In my experience, prayer alerts most often come in one of the following ways.
1) A Knowing: The primary way God speaks to us is through an inner knowing. We just know in our hearts that something isn’t right with one of our children. It isn’t rooted in fear, but is a consistent steady knowing.
2) An Inner Witness: An inner witness is similar to a knowing in our hearts, but the inner witness is more like a sudden alert on the inside. For example, one day as I walked through my foyer, I happened to look at a picture of one of my children. At that moment, my spirit jumped, and I felt an alert that something wasn’t right with her. Many family photos were sitting out on the table, but the alert focused on just one child.
3) A Word of Knowledge: A word of knowledge is one of the revelation gifts mentioned in the Bible, along with a word of wisdom and discerning of spirits (see 1 Cor. 12:7–10). These gifts manifest as the Spirit wills, but as praying parents, we should covet them. Revelation gifts reveal something to us. It can be anything within the realm of knowledge—facts, events (past, present, or future), purpose, motive, origin, destiny. The information can be human, divine, or satanic; it can be natural or supernatural. When we receive a word of knowledge, we receive information about something in the past or present that we do not have any way of knowing in the natural. It is a supernatural revelation by the Spirit. He gives us information from the mind of God about a person, place, or thing.
4) A Word of Wisdom: A word of wisdom is similar to a word of knowledge except that it pertains to the future. It is a supernatural revelation by the Spirit of God concerning the plan and purpose in the mind of God.
5) A Discerning of Spirits: To discern means to see. Discerning of spirits gives us insight into the spirit realm. As praying parents, this gift helps us to know if evil spirits are trying to influence our children—versus something arising from their souls. This gift also gives us insight into thoughts and intents of the heart, as well as motives. This gift is helpful to parents in many ways. It can even help us discern whether our kids’ friends are good for them.
6) A Scripture: The Holy Spirit can communicate a prayer burden to us through a passage of Scripture. God’s Word is living and active, and the Spirit can use it to speak directly into our lives about particular situations. I experienced this one night when I went into Danielle’s bedroom for our regular nighttime prayer. Suddenly, Mathew 6:25–34 rose up from my heart into my mind. These verses talk about anxiety and worry. Danielle was very young at the time, and I was surprised that even at her age she would be wrestling with this in her soul. I said to her, “Do you worry?” Shocked, she looked up at me with her big eyes and nodded. I told her God loves her so much and that He had just told me He did not want her to worry about things. I was able to not only pray with her, but to spend time teaching her how to give her worries to God.
7) A Vision or Dream: Sometimes we receive prayer alerts through dreams or visions (see Job 33:14–15).
8) A Heaviness of Spirit: At times, God clues us into a prayer need through a heaviness in our spirits or a feeling of being grieved in our spirits. It can be slight, or it can be heavy. It is intended as an alarm on the inside. This is like a pain on the inside, but not in the physical realm. It comes from our spirits by the Holy Spirit, and it can be felt in our souls and sometimes manifest in our bodies. When we think about certain people, something on the inside is grieved or pained (see Acts 16:18). This is a sign that it is time to pray.
9) A Strong Love: Finally, we can receive a prayer alert when a stronger than usual love rises up from within our hearts for one particular child (see Rom. 5:5). This love transcends our human love and is a manifestation of God’s love for that child (see Matt. 7:11). This agape love will especially manifest when there is a need for a deeper level of prayer, like travail.
These are some of the more common ways that we can receive prayer alerts for our children, though God is not limited by these. The key is that we are tuned in to the Spirit so we can hear Him when He signals the need for extra prayer. Paul says, “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God” (Rom. 8:14). We are His children, and our children are His as well. He wants to lead us as intercessors for our children so they can grow and thrive in Him. When we pay attention to these prayer alerts, not only can we release blessing and breakthrough in their lives, but we can also abort the plans of the enemy against them.