Praying With and For Children

I ask the children how I can pray for them because what is important to them ought to be important to me as their pastor. They are learning that when something is important to them, they ought to take it to the Lord and plead their case with him. And who am I to determine what is important enough to take to the Lord? And so I pray for them and count it a privilege. 

There is another benefit in praying with and for children. By speaking to them and hearing their prayer requests I get a glimpse of how God must regard some of my prayers. I have greater maturity and (I trust) greater wisdom than the children and this allows me to see just how mundane or funny some of their concerns may be. Yet God is infinitely greater than I am, he sees the end from the beginning, and he still chooses to hear me pray and to take my requests seriously. He tells me to pray without ceasing (1 Thes. 5:17), to pray instead of fretting (Phil. 4:6), to continue steadfastly in prayer (Col. 4:2), and assures me that all the while the Holy Spirit is interceding on my behalf (Rom. 8:26). He hears, and loves to hear, even those requests that show a lack of trust, a lack of knowledge, a lack of insight.

[http://www.challies.com/articles/praying-with-children]