Can you think back for a second to the first person you spoke to or the first person you had a close relationship with? It was your family member right? Either your mother, father, or sibling.

One’s family is the first exposure they have to social interactions and contact and so it is one of the most important units we have in our lives. This is one of the reasons the bond of families is so close.

Today, we will be exploring why we should pray for our families as believers.
To begin with, who exactly established the institution of families?

God did! In Genesis‬ ‭1‬:‭27‬-‭28‬ He said:

Genesis‬ ‭1‬:‭27‬-‭28‬ ‭‬

New King James Version

27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Genesis‬ ‭9‬:‭1‬

New King James Version

1 So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.“

Deuteronomy‬ ‭6‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭‬‬

New King James Version

‭‭6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.

7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.“

Through these scriptures, we can see the same idea; we can see that God’s plan was for us to belong to a family. To come from a father and a mother and to grow under their guidance. If God established an institution, you can tell that he would be intentional about it. God is very intentional about our families. Seeing as family is a very important institution established by God, the devil is always trying to rip apart families at the seams. This is why we must pray for our families.

2 Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭18‬-‭19‬ ‭‬‬

New King James Version

18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,

19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.“
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Apostle Paul says here that we have been called into a ministry of reconciliation; this means that as we have heard and believed the gospel, we have been given the responsibility to go about sharing this message we have heard with the rest of the world.

And our families are not an exception to this ministry!
If you are a believer and have heard the gospel and your family members have never heard of this gospel, then you don’t love them as much as you think you do. God placed you in your family for a reason and has ordered your steps to hear truth and sound doctrine and to be a blessing, not just to the whole world but also to your family.

Therefore, we have to spend time praying for the hearts and minds of our family members, praying that their hearts are open to hearing, and their minds are receptive as we speak to them about the gospel. We know what prayer does in the hearts of men and how prayers can break even the hardest and toughest hearts.

Apart from their salvation, we also pray for our family’s welfare. Some patterns haunt most family’s lineage: the devil is always prowling and trying to afflict us with things that would shake our faith, so knowing your authority in Christ and praying from a standpoint of that authority, would lead to the salvation of your family members from oppression by the devil.

Furthermore, we have been taught that prayer is the best love language. Anyone you love, you would pay for. So prayer for our family stems from a place of love; not duty or anger but love.

Our love for our family members would cause us to pray for their salvation, protection, provision, success, guidance, and deliverance from oppression.

Prayer Point:

From today onwards, I am intentional about my family and I ensure I spend time praying for them. Every single member of my family hears the truth of the gospel and their hearts are receptive to it. As for me and my house, we would serve the Lord.