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How To Pray For Your Parents

We all know that one of God’s commandments is for us to honor our parents. Jesus summarizes the commandments into two: to love God with all of our heart, soul, and strength and to love our neighbors just as we love ourselves. All the commandments that God gave us rest on those two instructions. If we love God, indeed, we won’t have any other gods and use His name in vain. If we love God, it should also be translated to loving other people. That includes loving and honoring our parents. We cannot claim to love God if we don’t love and honor our parents. In 1 John, it is written there that those who love have been born of God and truly know God. We also obey God’s commandment to honor our parents out of our love for God. When we love other people or our parents, we love them with a selfless kind of love, an “agape” kind of love; a kind of love that is selfless and sacrificial and always seeks the well-being and the good of others. We can only love with this kind of love if we encounter and receive it from God, for He is love. If we love our parents with an agape kind of love, indeed, we will always pray to God regarding them because we always seek their good and well-being.

Matthew 22:34-40

34 But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.

35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Ephesians 6:2-4

2 Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise;

3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

1 John 4:7-8

7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

How to Pray for Your Parents

1 John 5:2-4

2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

How do I pray for my parents?

If your parents are not yet Christians, then the most important thing you should pray for is for them to be saved. Yes, you can pray for healing, protection, strength, etc., for them, but if God grants it, it is only out of His common grace, which He shows to both the wicked and the righteous (those in Christ). The grace that we receive by being in Christ is simply different from the grace of those who are not. One is that we in Christ receive the greatest grace of all, salvation from our sins. That is just one of the graces that only those who repented and committed to following Christ receive. That grace is way better than healing, provision, and other temporary things here on earth. Your parents may get healed and receive provision, but those things won’t matter if they didn’t receive and believe in Christ’s work of redemption.

Matthew 5:45

That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

How to Pray for Your Parents

Romans 5:8

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us

How to Pray for Your Parents

Romans 3:23

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

How to Pray for Your Parents

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

How to Pray for Your Parents

Ephesians 2:1-9

1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Titus 3:5

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

How to Pray for Your Parents

God of mercy, You are the only One who can turn a heart of stone into a heart of flesh. I pray that You would work in the heart of my parents and soften their hardened hearts so that they will not resist Your grace but instead repent and commit to following Christ. Open their spiritual eyes so that they may see Christ. May they abide in Christ and bear fruit. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Of course, their health is something that you can always pray for, most especially if they are old. You can pray for good health for your parents and protection from any sickness and diseases:

Psalm 41:3

The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.

2 Thessalonians 3:3

But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.

Heavenly Father, You are Jehovah Rapha, the God Who heals. I pray for healing for my parents and for good health to be upon them. Protect them from any harm or danger and any sickness and diseases. I pray that they will grow old full of years in which You have used them for Your kingdom. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Another important thing you can pray for your parents is their growth as Christians. While praying for their salvation is one thing, praying for their growth is another. You would want to pray for them to grow in their walk with God, growing in the knowledge of Who God is. You can also pray for them to continue bearing fruit as Christians and that they shall always live in obedience to God.

John 15:8

Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples

2 Timothy 2:21

If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.

Philippians 1:6

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Colossians 1:10

That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

2 Peter 3:18

But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Here is how you can pray for your parent’s spiritual walk with God:

Father in heaven, it is Your work that produces fruit in us. I pray for my parents that they shall continue to grow deeper in their relationship with You, that they shall bear fruit, and that it will be evident in their lives. I pray that they also grow more in the knowledge of Who You are and the things of You. May they continue to grow in holiness and sanctification. Thank You, Holy Spirit, because You are at work in them and You will bring Your work in them into completion. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Essential for growing as a Christian is always reading our Bibles, studying them, and meditating on them day and night. We also have to always pray to God and be connected with fellow believers. Those are some of the spiritual disciplines that help us grow in our walk with God and something that you can pray for your parents.

Job 23:12

Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

Psalm 119:105

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Acts 2:42

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

1 Peter 2:2

As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

Hebrews 10:25

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Heavenly Father, Your grace empowers us to do the things we should do. Give my parents the grace to always read Your Word and value it more than physical food. I pray that they shall delight in Your law and that they shall always meditate on it and apply it in their lives. May they always obey the things You have commanded in Your Word. I pray that they shall always fight to spend solitude with You in prayer and always depend on You regarding everything in their lives. I also pray that they shall never neglect to meet and be in fellowship with other believers from which they get edified, encouraged, corrected, and even prayed for. I pray that they shall always be involved and committed to the church community. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Always pray for your parents every day. If you can pray for the concerns that you have every day, then indeed, you can include your parents, whom you love, in your prayers as well. Consistently praying for them and their well-being, not just physical but also spiritual, is one of the things we can do to show our love for them.

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