A Bedtime Prayer for My Family

Praying for your family before you go to sleep is just like praying for yourself; this time, instead of praying solely for your interests, you pray for your family’s well-being and concerns. There is nothing wrong with praying about your troubles. In fact, who would we open up to, if not God? But praying is not just for oneself; it is also for others. That is why a good prayer before going to sleep also includes your family. As Christians, we ought to love one another. Real love is selfless—we should be humble and always place others’ interests over ours. One good way to do that is always to remember others in our prayers.

Romans 1:9-10

9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;

10 Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.

Philippians 2:3-8

3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross

What is a good prayer to say before bed?

You can pray for many things on behalf of your family as you go to sleep. You can thank God for the graces and the wisdom He gives to your child as they finish taking their exams in school. You can also thank God for your wife’s fruitful Bible study group. You can thank God for keeping your father safe at work if you are a son or daughter. You can pray anything here. But to pray for your family, you should know their concerns or the things that are going on in their lives so that you will know what to pray for. For sure, there are things that you automatically see since you are a family, but it would be good to talk to them from time to time to get to know what their deep concerns are. Maybe it’s not just their exams that your children are thinking about, but they might be thinking that they are not good enough at school, which is something you can encourage in them and pray for. It could also be that there is a problem at the company where your father is working and that he is part of the team trying to solve it.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Here is a sample for you to guide you on how you can pray for your family before going to bed:

Thank You, Father, for all the graces that You gave us and for allowing us to accomplish what we have achieved today. I pray that You will give us peace and comfort in every concern we have. I also pray that Christ will always be the center of this family and that grace and love shall always abound. Give us peace for all our worries and the strength we need to face another day tomorrow. We thank You because Your mercies are new every morning. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

What is a good psalm to read before bed?

There are two good psalms you can read before going to bed—Psalm 4 and Psalm 121. In Psalm 4:8 it says:

I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.

It tells us that we can sleep peacefully through the night because God is our dwelling place, which makes us secure. Psalm 121 also talks about how God is the one who looks after us and keeps us. These psalms would make good prayers for your family before you go to sleep.

You can pray for them something like this:

Father, I thank You, for You are the one who watches over my family. I pray that You will always keep us safe from any harm and danger even as we go to sleep tonight. I thank You because You are the dwelling place that keeps us safe. You are the God Who looks after us and keeps us. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

1 Corinthians 13:13

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Praying for our family is always something that we do out of love. We don’t get tired of repeatedly praying for our loved ones because we care deeply about them. Yes, God knows every concern that we have. But still, that does not mean we shouldn’t pray—just because He knows all our issues. Praying is a God-instituted means for us to ask from God and come before Him in humility.