Practical Steps for Creating a Family Prayer Routine in January

I love my early morning prayer time. The sun isn’t up yet. The house is quiet. It’s just me and God. While I pray throughout the day, this time is very special to me. I understand it’s important to also pray with my husband and to teach my kids how to pray.

Introduction

Starting a family prayer time can feel like a big task, especially when family life is already full of activities, errands, and a busy schedule. But January is the perfect time to try something new and meaningful, and creating a daily prayer routine is a simple way to bring your family closer to God—and to each other.

Whether it’s a morning prayer to start the day, bedtime prayers to end it, or a quiet moment at the dinner table, there are plenty of easy ways to fit prayer into your routine. It doesn’t have to be complicated! In fact, the best routines are ones that feel natural and sustainable for your family.

In this post, we’ll explore practical and fun ways to make family prayer time a regular part of your lives, even with the busiest schedules. Let’s dive into some good ideas that can help your family grow in faith and create moments of connection that you’ll treasure forever.

Setting a Time and Place for Family Prayer

Time for personal prayer and family prayer will often be different. While I tend to pray all day long, I do have a dedicated prayer time in the morning before everyone gets up. This I when I start my day with worship, Bible reading and study, and prayer.

Family prayer time will often be later in the day. We always prayed before bed with our kids. We said general prayers for family needs, then prayed for each person in our family by name. That’s the time that worked best for us. We did pray other times, as well, though. We always pray before meals, and I would pray with the kids before they left the car for school or activities.

When planning a family prayer time, make the space inviting and free from distractions. When we prayed before bed the lights were low and there were no distracting sounds. We didn’t take our cell phones to the room and if they had white noise, we waited to turn that on until after prayer time. There are simple ways to make a quiet, prayer-friendly space for the entire family to engage in communicating with the Lord.

Types of Prayers to Incorporate

The first tip is to encourage your kids to participate. Even if you are using pre-written prayers ask your kids to participate in reading them. You can also start with pre-written prayers and then follow up with your own prayers. There is not “right” way to pray – just talk with God!

Pre-Written Prayers

There are many ways to structure your prayer time. Catholics often use the rosary to guide their prayer time, and this can be a lovely family tradition. Thanksgiving, intercession, and Scripture-based prayers. If you’re familiar with Jonathan Roumie (Jesus from the Chosen), you know he has a space on the Hallow platform to pray the rosary.

Prayer books can also be helpful. Be careful to get a book with prayers and not devotions. That’s a different family bonding time. Devotions are more about learning about applying God’s Word while prayers are how we communicate with God.

Some prayers many people know are the Our Father (the Lord’s Prayer) and the Hail Mary.

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen

Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.  Amen.

The Episcopal church also has the Book of Common Prayer that guides worship and has many prayers to say for all manner of life circumstances.

Praying Your Own Prayers

Coming up with your own prayers can be very simple. First, you’re just talking with God. Tell Him what’s on your mind. Bring your joys, fears, and concerns to Him. He knows what is happening in your life and prayer brings you closer to Him.

Generally there is a good format for prayer and it follows the word PRAY:

P – Praise God. I like to use the Psalms for this since I’m not terribly creative about praise beyond “thank you God.”

R – Repent. We all sin and need a savior. Now is when you tell God you are sorry for your sins. I generally go through the 10 commandments and review all those I have violated. I also search my heart and ask the Holy Spirit to tell me where I have strayed from God. If you’re doing this as a family, this can be done out loud or silently. I always do this out loud with my kids so they hear  A) that I sin, too, and B) how to repent. Not sure how to repent? Here’s a general model for repentance.

A – Ask. Ask God for what you need. If you’re scared or worried, tell Him. He already knows but wants you to come to Him and ask for His help. Ask for help with any problems you are experiencing. This is also when I bring family members to His attention. I pray for the needs of my husband, kids, and other family. Not sure of what people’s specific needs are? Listen when you talk with them and ask how you can pray for them. Most people are happy for you to pray for them!

Y – Yes or Yield. This is the step when we say, “thy will be done.” We agree that God’s ways are best and we agree with how He will solve the problems we are having. I generally end with something like, “thank you, God, for how you will help my family. Thank you for going ahead of us and answering our prayers. We trust you to take care of us and solve all our needs. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

That’s it. Your own prayers don’t have to be flowery or fancy. At the end of the day it’s all about talking with God. The important thing is to connect with Him, not to follow some strict rule about what to say.

If you are ever uncertain, go back to Bible reading and get ideas from there. You can also use the Word of God to guide your prayers, as I do here in personalizing Psalm 91 for your kids.

Overcoming Challenges for Family Prayer Time

Getting the entire family together for family prayer time can be challenging in today’s world. Many of us are fortunate to even eat dinner together, much less have time to pray. But you don’t have to let busy schedules derail prayer time. Consider before bed, when you’re in the car, during dinner, or any time you are in the same room.

Further, you don’t have to be all holy. Holiness is important, but it’s okay to have a sense of humor and enjoy the time together. And while atmosphere is one element, sometimes we pray “on the fly” and I believe God still hears us.

More important than atmosphere is our attitude. We want our hearts turned to God, not distractions. Keep the time uplifting. Don’t insult each other or mock someone’s needs. If your three-year-old wants to pray for her teddy bear’s torn ear, then go for it. That’s what is important to her right now.

Final Thoughts

I encourage you to persevere in family prayer. The month of January is a time of new beginnings and a wonderful time to start a new family prayer time. Don’t focus on how long you pray – just choose your prayer method (pre-written prayers or ones you create yourself) and pray. You’re done when you’re done. Some days you’ll pray longer than others. That’s fine.

With time your family will have a vibrant payer life that honors God and trusts Him for your future. I’m so excited for you to get started!

I’ll get you started with a prayer for family here:

Dear Lord, thank you for creating family for us. I love my family and each person in it. I repent that I have not prayed as much as you would like and that I’ve not been (insert sin – not honoring the Sabbath by going to church, used His name in vain – whatever is appropriate). Please forgive me. I want to be closer to you and set a good example for my family. Please help us with _____. I trust your answers for all our needs. Thank you for caring for us. We love you. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

When is your favorite time to pray as a family? Tell us in the comments below!

With love,

🌸 Andrea

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