Here’s a question for you: What’s the last thing your child hears before going to sleep? Why not make it the living Word of God?
Praying at bedtime is a time-honored tradition for good reason. It resets my heart and prepares me to take on the next day with new grace. As a new mom, I craved for that same peace to rest in my son’s soul as I put him to bed. So, I turned to Psalm for comfort. The book of Psalm is perfect for praying aloud, plus the rhythmic lines of these poems lull those little ears right to sleep!
Need more help tackling bedtime battles? Learn how to create a toddler schedule, or steal these tips for toddler bedtime!
Now, you could choose just about any Psalm for a sweet bedtime prayer, but for my money, I’d choose Psalm 19.
Psalm 19 is, in my opinion, quite possibly the most beautiful piece of poetry ever written. “The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech, night after night they display knowledge.” Well, that’s just flawless poetry, jam-packed packed with Truth! Well said, David.
Psalm 19 is perfect as a bedtime prayer for your child. Essentially, it’s an eloquent summation of God’s story. Creation, the heavens, the beauty and wisdom of God’s law, our sinful nature, Christ’s forgiveness and mercy, and our wholehearted desire to please Him.
I love praying Scripture because it forces me, in my self-centered-ness, to take the focus off of me and place it on the Father where it belongs. When I pray this over my son, I sometimes substitute his name in toward the end. “May the words of Little J’s mouth, and the meditations of his heart be pleasing in your sight, Oh Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” That’s powerful stuff, mamas! There is power in a praying parent.
So, with the entirety of Psalm 19 scratched out on a scrap of paper, I endeavored to memorize and pray this scripture over my son each night. I had that baby taped on the dashboard of my car, stuck to my fridge, and written on my calendar. (You could even grab a cute Bible cover to help you remember!) And you know what? I did it! The beauty of memorizing scripture is that it really is “hid in my heart.”
Guess what? Your toddler or preschooler can memorize Scripture, too! Learn how I keep it simple as I teach my little guy to memorize God’s Word. It’s so much easier than you’d think!
Can you memorize an entire Psalm? Yes, you can! I’ve included a printable of the second half of Psalm 19 below, but I know you can memorize the whole psalm too. My strategy was to just repeat small sections as rhythmically as possible so that the rhythm helped me remember the words. Then, I just combined all those small sections together!
For more free goodies, check out these pretty and powerful printables of Hebrews 11: 1 or Proverbs 17: 7.
Feel like you need more of a plan to teach your child God’s Word? You’ll love my early learning Bible curriculum packs! Each pack helps you focus on one “big idea” from God’s Word each month. Plus you’ll get a whole month of early learning hands-on fun planned out for you to support the Bible theme. It doesn’t get much easier than that, mama. Let me use my background as a teacher to take care of planning your tot school or homeschool preschool. Combine the best of both worlds with real learning and Bible-based truth in my early learning Bible packs!
FREE PRINTABLE!
Don’t forget to download your free printable! Just enter your email in the form below to get access to the Psalm 19 printable PDF.
There is power in praying scripture over your child! Psalm 19 is my favorite, but of course there are so many meaningful verses, perfect for bedtime prayers. What’s your go-to scripture to pray over your child? Share with me in the comments below!
For more ideas of what to pray over your child, try the resources below.
My favorite memorized Scripture is the first two books of Jonah. Just about every night I sleep on it. It reminds me again and again of how close I always am to the pit, because of my human nature. “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, O Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.”
I have always read, began with and still continue to read at all times is Psalms 91… And absolutely love Ephesians 6:10-20. God is so good all the time.
Thanks for sharing Faith! Amen and amen 🙂
Each of my daughters has a verse equated with their birthday. The only one I consistNtly say is psalms 100:1 Her birthday is 10/10….”shout for the joy of the Lord oh the earth.” Good stuff.
What a sweet idea!
What a beautiful idea! Mum actually taught us this as kids, and I think I got three verses in from memory over my 3 year old, I’ll have to refresh on the rest. I often pray Psalm 91:10 No harm shall befall you, no disaster shall come near our tent . . .
Hello- this is awesome! Just cant seen to find the link to the actual printable for this…?
thank you