Adopted children
It is a blessing to adopt a child and give him or her a loving home. We may not always be aware of a child’s spiritual heritage from its biological family but as followers of Jesus Christ, we can pray and commit our adopted child to a fresh spiritual start. We do this by laying hands on him or her and praying the following prayer out loud. This is a prayer we ought to proclaim at least once in the child’s lifetime.
(See Chinese versions: 简体中文 > 领养的孩子 | 繁體中文 > 領養的孩子)
A prayer over an adopted child
“Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for this child, whom You have fearfully and wonderfully created. I submit all my personal expectations and aspirations for this child at Your feet, and ask for the wisdom to raise him or her in Your image, and not my own.
Psalm 139:14 ESV I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
I declare that Jesus Christ is Lord of our household and family. Anyone who becomes part of our home also comes under His Lordship.
In Jesus’ name, I declare out loud that we are now this child’s spiritual authority and break all ungodly spiritual ties with his or her biological parents. I revoke all dedications of this child to idols and temples (name them if possible) in the past, and now dedicate this child to Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 6:14-15,17 ESV Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you,
Where this child may have been declared a curse or received ungodly prophecies, particularly from fortune tellers and other sorcerers, I now renounce all their words and curses in Jesus’ name. We give this child a new name, inspired by the Holy Spirit (optional).
Where anyone had once wished to abort or abandon this child, I revoke that ungodly heritage in the name of Jesus Christ. I declare that this child is no mistake, but a blessing and heritage from the Lord. I also ask for healing over this child’s heart for the stress, anxiety, and rejection he/she might have experienced before and after birth. I command the spirits of death, fear, abandonment, and rejection to leave this child in Jesus’ name. I direct these spirits to submit to Jesus Christ and to never return to this child or to this household.
Psalm 127:3 ESV Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.
I commit to teaching this child God’s Word so he/she can follow Jesus Christ as his/her personal Lord and Saviour, and ask for the Holy Spirit to lead him/her all the days of his/her life. As we choose to faithfully obey the Lord, I declare that this child will not be a tail, but the head. He or she will go up and not go down in life.
Deuteronomy 6:4-7 ESV “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
Proverbs 22:6 ESV Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Deuteronomy 28:13 ESV And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them,
In the name of Jesus, I bless this child with health, hope, joy, and peace. I commit this child’s upbringing to the Lord and ask that my Heavenly Father’s guidance on how I can be a parent who obeys my Lord, rather than my fears and anxieties.
Proverbs 16:3 NIV Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.
Matthew 19:14-15 NLT But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” And he placed his hands on their heads and blessed them before he left…
Holy Spirit, please continue to search our hearts and guide this prayer as we wait on You. (Please pause and wait in silence for any inspiration from the Holy Spirit.)
Thank you, Lord, for our family. We honour You as the Head of our household.
In Jesus’ name, amen.”