Start Your Day with God: 7 Morning Prayers for the Whole Family
Parenting
Audio By Carbonatix
4:30 AM on Monday, May 18
By Vivian Bricker, Parenting
1. A Prayer for Safety
On the first day of the week, pray with your family for safety. Many scary things can happen at school, such as bullying, violence, and sadly, shootings. It is important to pray for your family's safety. It also includes the safety of driving to and from school and to and from work. These things might seem minor until we start seeing problems or accidents happen. Rather than ignoring these issues, we can pray for our family's safety.
Ask each child and your spouse what specifically they need a prayer of safety for. Maybe they are going on a field trip. Maybe your spouse needs a prayer of safety because the ministry he is volunteering for is going into a hostile area. All of these matters need to be brought to the Lord and presented to Him in prayer. Safety is of utmost concern for our lives, and we can turn to God to help us in this area.
"Dear God, I am worried about the safety of my family. We all come to You today and pray for each other's safety. Please keep each of us safe and surround us with Your protection. We praise You, and we love You. Amen."
2. A Prayer for Growth
On the second day of the week, the family needs to pray for growth. Growth can mean many things depending on the person. Ask your children and spouse what areas they need help with regarding growth. Maybe this is Christian growth, or maybe this is growth in school. Allow your children and your spouse to share their answers.
Share your own needs for growth so your children and spouse can pray for you. Once everyone has shared their growth needs, we can go to the Lord in prayer. Many people think it is taboo to share struggles with your children, but this is not true. Sharing struggles and areas of improvement will actually help our families grow stronger. Children will be able to see that their parents are not perfect and that it is okay to mess up, need help, and receive support from others.
"Dear Jesus, my family and I come before You today because we need help with growth. Each of us has our own unique areas we need help with, and we present them all to You. Please help us to grow in our walk with You, our relationship with each other, and in our family. Thank You, Lord. Amen."
3. A Prayer for Health
A third prayer for the week is for health. Health is on most parents' minds because of the recent pandemic. Parents are more concerned about their children's health and overall well-being. This is completely understandable, and your fears are valid. As Christians, we can turn to the Lord when we need health-related prayers.
However, this does not mean we should discount doctors and medical professionals. These individuals will be able to help us and our children. Prayers should always be lifted up to the Lord, yet we must also take our children to the doctor for check-ups and sick visits. More often than not, we will find that the answer to our prayers is found in the medicine from the doctor or a treatment plan.
"Dear Lord, my family and I are praying for health. Please help us to be healthy and to have strong immune systems. Prevent us from getting sick and help us seek out proper medical care when we are in need. Doctors are here to help us, and we don't need to ignore their help. I praise You, Amen."
4. A Prayer for Forgiveness
On the fourth day of the week, we need to pray for forgiveness. The Bible is clear that forgiveness is essential (Ephesians 4:32). This can be a sensitive subject if a child has recently hurt the feelings of a parent or a parent has hurt the feelings of a child. Children and parents both need to learn the art of forgiveness. We will be bound to our unforgiveness if we cannot forgive others. As one can imagine, this is not a good place to find ourselves in, and it is even harder to get out of.
Bring the prayer requests before the family and ask them if there are any people in their lives that they need help forgiving. Even if they don't want to share their names, tell them to pray the person's name to the Lord. Help them to know that Jesus hears their prayers even if they don't say them out loud. This will help your child feel more comfortable sharing their feelings with Jesus since they might not be ready to share their feelings with the entire family, especially if they are holding unforgiveness towards another family member.
"Dear Jesus, my family and I are praying for forgiveness today. I lift up all of my family in prayer and ask You to help them to forgive those who have hurt them in the past. I also ask for help in forgiving those I have not forgiven yet. I know forgiveness is important, and I trust that You can help all of us to truly forgive. Thank You, Lord. Amen."
5. A Prayer for a Beautiful Day
On the fifth day of the week, pray for a beautiful day. Depending on where you live, some days might be sunnier than others. Where I live, it gets extremely hot; we are often under heat advisories and heat stroke caution in the spring, summer, and fall. Whether you live in a warm or cold place, you and your family can pray to the Lord and ask for a beautiful day. On this beautiful day, you can go out and have fun together as a family.
Maybe you could go for a walk or a bike ride with your family. The weather rarely seems great, so take advantage of the beautiful day God has blessed you with. Even if it is raining on the day you pray this, take advantage of the beautiful day. It can still be a day of family fun.
"Dear God, please bless my family with a beautiful day. Your beauty is shown to us through the sky, the flowers, and the oceans. Please help us enjoy today and draw closer to each other as a family. Thank You, Amen."
6. A Prayer for Joy
On the sixth day of the week, we will pray a prayer of joy for our family. It is important to mention that joy is different from happiness. The former is based on God, whereas the latter is based on situations. We need to pray for joy rather than happiness. Happiness will fade away and not last, yet joy will always be present.
Explain this concept to your children ahead of time so that they can fully understand it. It can be a complex concept for children to understand, yet after explaining it to them, they should be able to understand the difference between happiness and joy. While happiness is great, joy is much better because it is rooted in God.
"Dear God, please help my family and me to have joy today. We know that our joy is found in You, and we praise You. Help us live each day in the joy of You and the salvation You have given us. Thank You, Lord. Amen."
7. A Prayer for Feeling God's Love
For the week's final day, we will pray with our family to feel God's love. God's love is often hard to feel because feelings are not facts. However, we have to know that the more we look to God and rest in His love, the more love we will feel. Even if we don't experience God's love daily, we can know it is always present because He loves us unconditionally.
If your children are unaware of God's love, share with them the truth of His love. Tell them how God sent His Son to die for our sins (John 3:16-17). This is the greatest demonstration of love, and it was all done for us. Help your children to know that God loves them and He is always with them. This will bring comfort, security, and hope into their hearts.
"Dear God, please help my family and I feel Your love. We are all in need of Your love. Help us to walk through every day with a heart full of Your love. The ultimate form of love was shown to us by sending Your Son to die for our sins. Help us to keep this love in our hearts every day. Thank You, Amen."
