Daily Family Prayer Time

Wanted to share with you guys an easy-to-remember way to spend time in prayer as a family throughout your week. This is something we've done for several years, and it gives some focus and direction to prayer times, while providing a nice variety throughout each week. Perhaps it will be helpful to some of you... each day's subject starts with the same sound as the day of the week.

MONDAY -- Missionaries
(the kids love to pray for kids and their parents in other countries!)
TUESDAY -- Teachers
(sometimes "Mommy", as I homeschool Ethan... sometimes "Daddy", if he's teaching in our house church time that Sunday, sometimes our language teachers, etc.)
WEDNESDAY -- Witness, Widows, & Wisdom
(We pick a couple of widows from our church and pray for their encouragement and strength, and then also for our own witness, and for wisdom for any decisions we're making)
THURSDAY -- Those in authority
(Prayer for anyone in authority-- our Pastor, bosses, mommy and daddy, the President, etc.)
FRIDAY -- Friends & Family
(Thanking God for them, lifting up their needs, etc.)
SATURDAY -- Sinners
(Anyone we know who needs to come to know, love, and follow Jesus)
SUNDAY -- Saints
(In the biblical, not the Catholic, sense of the word-- this is the day when we pray for other Christians... sometimes this overlaps with the other days and that's OK.)


We have enjoyed this regular guide to prayer together as a family... each person picks a topic or a person to pray for (we help the kids to form their prayers if need be), and spend just a few minutes each night before bed in prayer together as a family. I'm so thankful that Doug leads our family in this area. This is a precious time for seeing their little hearts become attuned to the things of God... taking on HIS priorities for the world, for sinners, for widows, and for friends & family.

If you don't already, I would encourage you to begin taking time together as a family to pray. It doesn't have to be long... it could be at breakfast, or at snacktime, at dinner, or just before bed... whenever it is, and however you choose to do it, I know your family will benefit from regular communication with the Almighty God.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

what a neat idea!! the part of me that loves to schedule-while-appearing-spontaneous is cheering right now!! :)

Keri Mae said...

We do the same sort of thing with our children for "Bible Time".

Monday....prayers of faith (what are our needs?)
Tuesday....prayers for family members
Wednesday....prayers for whatever is on our minds, plus the Lord's prayer
Thursday....prayers for missionaries
Friday...prayers for our church and pastor, missions, etc.
The weekend....prayers for any needs inside and outside the family; sort of a free for all

We used to keep a journal of our prayers, which was great to keep track of answers, but got to be too much to keep up with (for me!)

Ok, I'm done with my free time! I enjoy the variety of your blog very much, good job!

Blessings,
Keri

Unknown said...

Jess - what a great idea. THANKS for sharing it!

Elspeth said...

We pray as a family at night but not with as much focus as you describe here. I will share this idea with the hubby and get his input because I like the idea.

Anonymous said...

What a great guideline! Thanks so much for sharing it, Jess.

We have pastor friends in TX who made up a similar guideline for their congregation, but it was all about how to pray for their pastor, with specific requests for each day. It's amazing, and no wonder their church is thriving spiritually...

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing this simple, yet important tip! It reminds me of the quote, "This little things...aren't":) Thank you!
~Megan