Summary4 min read

The Daily Blade: Episode #359

Theme: Pray Scripture Over Your Kids
Hosts: Joby Martin & Kyle Thompson
Release Date: May 18, 2026

Episode Overview

In this heartfelt episode, Pastor Joby Martin shares personal stories and practical wisdom on the power of praying Scripture over children. Drawing from Psalm 1 and Psalm 139, Joby encourages parents—especially fathers—to ground their kids in God's Word through prayer, shaping their spiritual identity and resilience. Co-host Kyle Thompson joins briefly in the introduction but the core devotional is led by Joby.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Personal Power of Praying Scripture (00:20–03:15)

Joby describes the tradition he started 21 years ago with his son, Joseph Perry Martin IV (JP):
- Every night, Joby would pray Psalm 1 over JP, personalizing the words to speak directly to his son's life and future as a man.
Insight: Prayers rooted in Scripture not only shape a child's faith but can serve as an "anchor" during spiritual tumult.

“Even when he was like two days old and he couldn't even understand what I was saying all the way up, even to when he got into high school and didn’t love it, I prayed these words."
— Joby Martin (00:27)

Joby emphasizes agency in adapting Scripture—making it a blessing and a direct encouragement suited to your child's unique journey.

Personalizing the Psalms for Each Child (03:15–04:15)

For his son, Joby focused on the masculine blessings of Psalm 1:
- "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked... But his delight is in the law of the Lord..."
- He would make it specific:
  
  “JP and may you be like a tree planted by streams of running water. May your fruit never wither. May everything you do prosper.”
  — Joby Martin (02:28)
For his daughter Reagan Caprice, Joby committed to Psalm 139:14, emphasizing identity and God's craftsmanship, pushing back against modern beauty standards and insecurity:
- “Dear God, I bless you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful and I know that full well.”

“When she came around some soon-to-be-dead boy or some mean girl that said something other than what the Word of God said, I wanted her to know that she knows that she knows that she is a part of God’s workmanship...”
— Joby Martin (03:58)

Responding to Cultural Challenges with God’s Word (03:40–04:20)

Joby laments cultural narratives about beauty and worth and equips his daughter against these with Scripture.
Key Insight: Consistent, scriptural prayer forms a shield against cultural lies and peer pressure.

Practical Encouragement for Parents (04:20–04:50)

Joby calls on parents to:
- Pray out loud over their kids nightly, using Scripture for specificity and depth.
- Start immediately, regardless of the child’s age—call your grown child or begin with young ones.
- See the action as a spiritual weapon in the fight for their children’s hearts.

“If you got older kids, I dare you call them and start praying Scripture over them right now. If you got younger kids, don’t waste this moment...”
— Joby Martin (04:32)

He emphasizes that this practice is a vital aspect of Christian leadership in the home.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

"I tried to set this Word of God like an anchor so deep in his soul that when the winds of doubts and when the waves of this world tried to knock him off course, that he would always be brought back to this..."
— Joby Martin (02:50)
"Don’t just listen to the Daily Blade for you, but begin to pray the Scriptures over people that you love."
— Joby Martin (04:44)

Important Timestamps

00:20 – Joby begins sharing his personal practice of praying Psalm 1 over his son
02:28 – Example of personalizing the Scripture for his son
03:58 – Explains his choice of Psalm 139:14 for his daughter
04:32 – Challenge to parents: pray Scripture over children now
04:57 – Episode wraps up with an invitation to continue Psalm 1 study tomorrow

Tone & Takeaway

Joby's tone is warm, sincere, and practical—fatherly both in biblical exhortation and personal testimony. The episode leaves listeners with the compelling challenge to move beyond devotional intake to active leadership and blessing in their families. The message is both pastoral and actionable: pray Scripture over the lives of those you love, tonight.

Listen Further

The next episode will continue unpacking Psalm 1. Stay tuned for practical steps to further sharpen your spiritual leadership.

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Transcript3 lines

[00:01]
A
Welcome to the Daily Blade. The word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.
[00:21]
B
All right. Welcome back to the Daily Blade. This whole week, we are going to walk through one of the Psalms, and it's Psalm, chapter one. And this psalm is near and dear to my heart. And the reason that it's near and dear to my heart is because almost 21 years ago, when my son, JP Joseph Perry Martin IV was born, every night when I would put him to bed, I would pray this psalm over him. And so even when he was like two days old and he couldn't even understand what I was saying all the way up, even to when he got into high school and didn't love it, I prayed these words. Psalm 1. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of the sinner, nor sits in the seat of the scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord. And on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season. And its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. Now, when I would pray this over JP I would modify it just a little bit. And I think I memorized it, like in the NIV or something. It was 20 something years ago. And so I would make it very personal to him. I would say, blessed is the man that does not walk in the way of the wicked or stand in the way of the sinner, or sit in the seat of the scoffer. But he delights in the law of the Lord. And upon his law he meditates day and night. And then I would say, JP and may you be like a tree planted by streams of running water. May your fruit never wither. May everything you do prosper. And I kind of left out the wicked stuff. And I say, may God bless the righteous. Now, here's what I want to encourage you with. If you have kids, you should pray out loud over your children. That it should be the constant thing that they can look forward to every night pray out loud and not just random prayers that you make up. That's fine, but I would highly encourage you to pick some Bible verses to pray over your kids. Part of the reason I picked this to pray over my son is because it says blessed is the man. And I wanted my son to grow up to be a man. And he turns 21 this year and he has grown into that man that I hoped for and I prayed for. And I didn't want him to just be any man, any ordinary man. I wanted him to be a blessed man. And the way that you are going to be a blessed man is first and foremost, you've got to know God. And so I didn't want him to walk in the counsel of the wicked, but I wanted him to be blessed by God and know God. And I don't want to put all of his life out in the world, you know, because that's none of your business. But he wasn't always walking with the Lord. And I highly believe a part of the way that he is walking with God now is because when he was a little kid, I tried to set this word of God like an anchor so deep in his soul that when the winds of doubts and when the waves of this world tried to knock him off course, that he would always be brought back to this, to this Word of God that we tried to plant deep, deep in his heart. Now, when I had a little girl, Reagan Caprice, she's 16 now, I prayed a very short verse, Psalm 139:14, over her every single night. Dear God, I bless you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful and I know that full well. And a part of the reason I prayed that over her is because she lives in a world that says if you're not beautiful, you're not lovable. And beauty is unattainable because of all of the digital imaging and all of that. And when she came around some soon to be dead boy or some mean girl that said something other than what the Word of God said, I wanted her to know that she knows that she knows that she is a part of God's workmanship, that she is fearfully, that means reverently, she is wonderfully made. That everything God makes is exactly the way he wants to make it. And I wanted him to know that. So if you got older kids, I dare you call them and start praying scripture over them right now. If you got younger kids, don't waste this moment as a dad, as a leader, you want to push back darkness. Don't just listen to the Daily Blade for you, but begin to pray the Scriptures over people that you love. Come back tomorrow and we will begin to unpack.
[04:58]
A
Psalm chapter 1 thank you for listening to today's episode. Before you go, if you want to help, equip other men for the fight, Share this podcast around and leave us a five star rating and review. Stay sharp.