Me too. Sure, we all remember to pray fervently over our families when something goes wrong. In times of illness or teen rebellion, you can be sure moms everywhere hit their knees. But, during the long days of parenting and soccer games and nightly dinners, it can be tough to be intentional about praying for our families.
Thankfully, Scripture is full of prayer to our great God. We can turn to God’s Word to help us know how to pray.
How to Pray for Your Family Intentionally
The Bible is full of things we can pray for our kids. Paul wrote a prayer in Philippians chapter 1 for Christians of the church at Philippi in the first century. First, Paul writes about the attitude with which he prays for his spiritual family. Philippians 1:3-4, ESV, says:
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy…
Like Paul, we can remember our family as we pray intentionally for them. We can also pray with joy, knowing they are given to us by God. Just as Paul discipled the church at Philippi, we are blessed to be able to faithfully disciple our own children.
I love Paul’s prayer in Philippians 1:9-11 because it truly expresses our heart’s desire for our kids. We can use it as the base of our prayer for our own kids as we remember to steward their upbringing to the glory of God. Paul writes:
And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
What a wonderful prayer. It’s one that we can pray faithfully for our own children! Let’s pray:
Heavenly Father, I thank you for my family with great joy. They are such a wonderful gift to me. Help me to remember them daily before you. I ask that you help my husband and children to grow in love. Help them also grow in their knowledge of you and of your Word. As they grow, help them to become spiritually discerning, able to make wise choices for your glory, approving of what is excellent. Let them live pure and blameless lives for Jesus. Help them to be sanctified so they grow the fruit of the Spirit that comes through Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Let their very lives glorify and praise our great God. Amen.
Praying intentionally isn’t difficult–we just have to open up our Bibles. When we pray God’s Word back to him, we are praying for his will in our lives and in the lives of those we love.
7 FREE Bible Devotions | Scriptures You Can Pray for Guidance
I wrote 60 Scriptures You Can Pray as a devotional you can use to explore the biblical prayers prayed by real people with real needs. The book is divided into eight types of prayers you can pray to God in times of need, confusion, or joy. One of the sections in the book addresses prayers for God’s guidance.
Here are the prayers for guidance covered:
- Why Is This Happening? | Genesis 25:19-28
- Keep Me From Evil | 1 Chronicles 4:9-10
- Give Me Wisdom and Knowledge | Chronicles 1:1-13
- Nothing Is Too Hard for You | Jeremiah 32:16-25
- The Knower of Hearts | Acts 1:15-26
- Rooted and Grounded in Love | Ephesians 3:14-21
- Ask God for Wisdom | James 1:5-8
- Come, Lord Jesus | Revelation 22
You can learn more about prayer, God’s guidance, and seeking wisdom right now–today!
In fact, you can get 7 days from the section of prayer on guidance by signing up for the Scriptures You Can Pray for Guidance devotional series over at YouVersion!
Get signed up right here.
While you’re learning about biblical prayers for guidance from Rebekah, Jabez, Solomon, Jeremiah, the apostles, Paul, James, and the entire kingdom of God, be sure to learn more about 60 Scriptures You Can Pray. Grab your copy from one of the purchase links over on the book page!
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60 Scriptures You Can Pray
The Bible is full of prayer that you can pray too!
How do you pray when you don’t know what to say? The Bible holds the answer.
God doesn’t expect us to pray without guidance. In fact, Scripture is full of examples of ordinary people approaching our extraordinary God in prayer.
Award-winning author Danika Cooley believes that praying God’s Word teaches us how to best communicate with our Lord:
“There are so many lessons we can learn from Scripture about how to approach God and what to expect when we do.”
Danika’s devotional 60 Scriptures You Can Pray covers eight types of prayer from the Bible, the expectations we should have when we pray, and the right heart attitude for prayer.
- Praise | We adore God for who he is.
- Thanksgiving | We thank God for all he has done.
- Confession | We admit our sin to the God who saves us.
- Supplication | We humbly ask God to provide for our needs.
- Intercession | We ask God to meet the needs of others.
- Deliverance | We cry out to God for help in times of trouble.
- Lament | We bring our sorrow to God, our comforter.
- Guidance | We ask for God’s help in determining his will for our lives.
When you read 60 Scriptures You Can Pray, you will:
- Develop a habit of praying daily over a two-month period
- Learn more about prayer in Scripture
- Understand eight different types of prayer
- Expand your understanding of how to pray biblically
- Become better acquainted with God, His Word, and why we pray
Packed with thoughtful explanations of biblical prayer and practical application in each devotion, 60 Scriptures You Can Pray is the tool you need to learn more about prayer–straight from God’s Word.
Want to equip the women in your church to pray biblically?
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