Short Family Prayers: A Family Ritual Practice

If you want to build a strong family, your family needs a foundation of prayer. Praying together, in particular, makes a significant difference. In fact, a research study showed that "shared prayer is the most powerful predictor of relationship quality among black, Latino and white couples; more powerful than denomination, religious attendance, or shared religious friendships."

Learn how to make prayer a regular family ritual using these short family prayers and practices.

The Ritual of Directed Family Prayer

One of the common obstacles to praying as a family is it can feel awkward or performative. Not everyone feels they have the best words to pray out loud, so this practice of directed prayer can be an easy tool to implement as part of your family prayer ritual. Directed prayer looks like following a prompt that everyone prays silently about. Your family could agree on topics in advance that they want to pray about and then a leader you choose can read the prompts and transition from one topic to the next.

Short Directed Prayer Family Prompts

Use these short family prayer prompts and everyone can pray silently related to these topics. Add your own ideas too; it doesn’t just have to be family related!

• Let’s pray for our family to find unity. Ask God to reveal any areas we need to confess or to strengthen.
• Let’s take time to thank God for ways He has provided recently or how we have seen Him work.
• Now let’s ask God for clarity on these upcoming goals and plans we have. (Add more detail here as needed.) How can we best honor Him or what else do we need to consider?
• Let’s pray for our friends (or add other relational/community ideas) and ask for God to give us wisdom on how to serve these relationships.
• Let’s pray for encouragement, that God will fill us up with His joy, and we will find strength in weary moments. Think about situations that may be challenging right now and pray over those.

The Ritual of Short Family Prayers

Drawing from similar ideas of directed prayer, sometimes the short prayers can be the most effective way to engage your family. Use these ideas as quick topics to pray together. It could be done at meal time or even shared via text for families that are not all in the same location.

1. Gratitude: Lord, thank You for all Your blessings over our family. I am praising You for _____ today. Thanks for loving us.
2. Peace: Lord, still our minds and let our hearts recenter on You. May we feel Your presence and peace.
3. Growth: Lord, keep us available for Your purpose. Challenge our hearts with how You want us to continue to grow.
4. Joy: Thank You, Lord, that You celebrate with us. Let us continue to root our joy and affections in You.
5. Patience: Lord, as we walk through seasons of challenge or waiting, help us to deepen in patience and trust. We believe in Your provision.
6. Compassion: Lord, give us eyes to see others the way You do. May we be more kind and compassionate, not self-centered.
7. Forgiveness: Lord, we humble ourselves and confess our sin. Please forgive us and lead us to paths of restoration.

Set Your Own Family Prayers Ritual

Through these short family prayers, whether directed or prayed aloud, you can build a strong family ritual together. Not only does it grow your faith, but it provides a simple way to connect and practice unity together. That is the importance of family rituals: repetition hammers home what matters most. What you practice now is what will sustain your family when it faces moments of challenge.

Want to keep praying with other families? Join our Family Prayer Community to share requests and pray for others.