Praying for Your Family - 2. By Yourself

Praying is amazing because you can reach out and speak to the Creator of the Universe - any time or place!

The prayers I will be submitting to you here can be done on-the-go or during a quiet time, or as you watch your child in any situation, or as you glance at a family picture on your desk while at work, or when you are tucking your kids in to bed at night, or while you are making dinner.  I hope you are getting the point - that you can pray anytime or anywhere.  I am not the best at always strictly adhering to a quiet time for myself when we are in transition modes (moving, vacations, weekends...etc), so I am not going to tell you that the only or even best time to pray is during a specific, set aside 'quiet time.'

IF you have one of those regular times, and you are so faithful to meet with the Lord there - I am SUPER proud of you.  Not even kidding.  I am also a little jealous, but mostly happy for you.  Feel free to plug these prayers in to that time if you like.  I seem to go a few months on with a regular quiet time then struggle for a week or two to get in the groove, and then back on for a few months.  Declaring a time and place like a true appointment seems to help!

However, I am going to specifically tell you that any time you are ALONE - I highly suggest you pray Aloud.  As in, talk the words out loud to God, not just think them in your head.  There is something so powerful about choosing to speak to God with the voice He gave you.  It also helps to keep your focus on the prayer - the conversation with the Lord that you are having.  Just try it!  It does take a small measure of boldness though, because you are effectively claiming in faith that you believe God hears you and you are not talking to the walls or yourself, and so just by praying out loud, you are standing more firmly on your faith.

That leads us into your first prayer. I am trying to make these alliterative to help with memory.  It helps me, anyways.  If you find it unhelpful and corny, well then, that's just too bad for you.

When you are By Yourself pray for Boldness.

As you pray for your family, it is good to remember that you are part of that family. You count, too!

You may be constantly surrounded people, whether your family, kids because they are little or you are one of those amazing home school parents, or because you work in an environment surrounded by people, it's OK! At some point, even if just once every few days, you are sure to be alone in the car maybe, or out for a walk.  Side note: If you are a mama who does not get to be alone at least once every few days, you need to try to make that happen for your own mental/emotional health.  If my kids didn't take naps, I wouldn't get much.  Nap-time totally counts as alone time, as long they are in another room.  Actually leaving the house and being in the car and going somewhere in public alone feels like a dream, and happens less than once a week for me in this season of little kids.  That alone time in the car is great for private prayer and praise!

Here is an example of praying for Boldness when you are By Yourself (remember to attempt this/something like this out loud):

Lord,
Please help my family to be bold for you when the time is right.  Help me to boldly proclaim the gospel to my kids as often as possible.  Help my kids to boldly share the gospel at school, with their friends and peers.  Help my spouse to be bold for you in his/her workplace.  Help us to be bold as a family that stands up for your holiness, your Word, in a world that is more often seeking to degrade and dehumanize Christians and what our faith means.  Give us the wisdom to know the difference of how to be bold for you without sounding arrogant, cocky, or unloving.  Help us to be bold in the face of persecution.  God, if ever a time should come when we must boldly choose you or choose losing our careers, our home, even our lives, give me, give my spouse, give my children the boldness to always choose you, in a loving way that spreads the gospel more than it mocks your name.  Give us boldness in order to bring glory to your great name.  Help my husband and children turn to you boldly in prayer, before freaking out about anything in our lives.  Hep us to remember that you tell us to boldly come to you.  We can approach your throne and ask for our needs and petition for others with confidence.  Help us to be bold for you and be bold in prayer to you.  In Jesus Name I pray, 
Amen. 

This is the second post in the series on Praying for Your Family: 31 Day Challenge. You can go to the main 'landing page' for a list of all the days by clicking here:

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