Back in college a friend challenged our small group to sit in a quiet room and just pray for one hour. I had never heard of someone doing this or practicing this in the 2000s. Honestly, my first thought was WOW that is a LONG time, I have such a busy schedule. After some reflection and reprioritizing, I sat down on my bed, in my little apartment, and began to pray. As the hour passed, I was amazed at how much more I still needed to pray for! It was such an eye opening discipline and practice for me into my prayer life. It opened my eyes to whole news ways to pray. One of those ways is praying attributes and specific requests. Here are 10 examples of ways to pray for your family.
Unity
Pray for unity in your family and between each of its members. If it’s just you and your husband, pray for unity between each other and that you would be on the same page as one another. Pray that you would be a great team. If you have children, pray for their unity to each of you and toward their siblings. Pray for each relationship now and in the present. Ask for God to show you how to cultivate unity in your daily activities.
Open Hearts
This is so important. I wrote a blog post about forgiving your husband and talked about how having a soft and open heart toward your spouse changes things. Christ has paid our debt and shown us ultimate forgiveness. Therefore, he tells us: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”(Ephesians 4:32) This is a huge, but hard to put into practice at times when we are hurt. Pray for God to give you an open heart and ask to see your family as Christ sees them.
Wisdom
I don’t know about you, but as my children enter new phase after new phase, I find myself praying more and more for wisdom in my parenting. Today’s world seems increasingly dark and I just pray for wisdom to guide them through it. I also pray for wisdom in our finances, in our life decisions, and how I manage our household in my role as a wife. I also pray for insight into my family. I pray that God will give me wisdom to see areas in my life I should mold. I need lots of wisdom, friends.
Obedience
This can be a tough prayer. Obedience says, “i’m all in”. Obedience says “I have faith even when I don’t see.” I pray that I would see God’s calling for our family, clearly and accurately and that I would urge us to follow it. I pray for obedience in my prayer life and obedience in reading His Word.
Courage
We sat next to each other over a decade ago for our first date and now we sit next to each other each night before bed. I pray that we have the courage and boldness in our lives to life differently than the world. I pray for courage in our work life. I pray for courage to follow God’s calling. I pray that we seek Jesus, just Jesus.
Generosity
In a world that heavily cares about “me”, I pray that we would be a family that is generous. I pray that we would give when God calls us and I pray that we would give in obedience to his Word. I pray that we would see a need and meet it – not look the other way. I pray that we would not only “see” a need, but seek to find one. I also pray that we would generously love, forgive and give grace.
Kindness
Oh, that we would be kind to one another and others. This is a great prayer for a toddler mom of two. All day long I preach sharing and kindness. I pray that they would be kind to each other and that they would develop a deep love and friendship with one another. I pray that they would be unbelievingly kind to others. I love seeing kindness through their eyes of waving at strangers and meeting friends at the park. I pray that their hearts would remain this kind. I also pray for kindness for myself. I can easily beat myself up and feel like I fall short, so mama’s be kind to yourself. Dads, be kind to yourself.
Opportunities
I excitedly pray for opportunities to further God’s kingdom. Specifically, I pray for God to do a work through this blog and I pray for opportunity. I also pray for direction through opportunities that present theirselves in our life. I pray for discernment in which ways we should go as we navigate opportunities.
Their Walk
I pray for my family’s hearts. I pray that my husband would continue to grow more and more in love Christ each day and that the Lord would guide him in leading our home. I pray for my children’s hearts that they would come to know and love Jesus at a young age. I pray that God would use me to guide them through how we live our life. I pray for my own walk and for God be alive in our house.
Grace
At the center of our home, I pray for GRACE.
I pray we give grace freely to one another. We are four sinners living under one roof 24/7 together. We need grace. We fall short. I pray that we would always extend grace to each other and others. I also pray that we would share this grace with others.
There are so many other ways you can pray for your family, these are just a few that are “regulars” for me. I hope that they spark ideas for you in your prayer life. I also love praying verses over my family: 11 Verses To Pray Over Your Family. The possibilities are endless. Do you pray for your family in a certain way?
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