Family Prayer Time Without the Stiffness

Family prayer time can be as simple as taking turns to give thanks, say sorry and ask for help, with one sentence each. You do not need long or fancy words, and length is not what makes a prayer good. Jesus warned against thinking we will be heard for our much speaking (Matthew 6:7), so a short prayer in His name is a good prayer.

Praying aloud together can feel stiff. Here is a pattern that takes the stiffness out, some ways to let the children take part and a few words about the One who makes our prayers possible, the Lord Jesus Christ.

A simple pattern for family prayer time

A pattern gives everyone something to say. Here are four parts, and a family can use one or all of them.

1. Praise God for who He is. “Lord, You are good and You are great.”
2. Thank Him for something He has given. “Thank You for our food and for our home.”
3. Say sorry for sin. “Lord, we were unkind today, please forgive us.”
4. Ask Him for what we need, for ourselves and for others.

The psalmist says, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, into his courts with praise” (Psalm 100:4), and Paul writes, “in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6). Both fit this pattern well.

Let the children pray

Invite each child to say a sentence, beginning with the youngest who is willing. If a child is shy, ask them to say one thing they are thankful for. Do not correct their wording. Let the older children pray first once in a while, so that the younger ones hear how it is done.

Pray the Scriptures

One easy way into family prayer time is to pray back what you have just read. If you read about Jesus healing a man, thank Him for His power and mercy. If the passage warns of sin, ask the Lord to forgive and help. The sessions on this site end with a prayer that does this for the chapter, and you can use it as a guide. The session for Mark chapter 11 includes Jesus' teaching about prayer.

Praying for people outside your home

Keep a short list of people to pray for, such as grandparents, the pastor, missionaries and sick friends. Pray for one or two each day. Children learn that prayer reaches beyond the family when they hear the names of people they know.

When someone does not want to pray aloud

Do not force it. Say, “You can pray in your heart, and we will wait for you.” A child who is not ready today may be ready next month. The apostle writes, “the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don’t know how to pray as we ought” (Romans 8:26), and that is a comfort for every believer who finds prayer hard.

Why we can pray at all

We pray because of Jesus. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me” (John 14:6). We have no goodness of our own to bring, and Christ is all the goodness we need. Christ died for sinners and rose again, and everyone who turns from sin and trusts in Him may draw near. So when your family prays, pray in His name, and call your children to turn from sin and trust Him. Do not assume that a child who prays well has been born again. Ask the Lord for that, too.

Pray together tonight, even if it is only one sentence each. The worship page has a prayer prepared for every session, and you can give here if you would like to help other families have the same. May the Lord hear the prayers of your home.