How to Pray for Weight Loss

You are here because you may be desiring to lose some weight. Know that it is not an accident that you are reading this, and God wants you to know His will regarding your physical health. The physical body plays an important role in fulfilling our calling in Christ Jesus. Even though we are spirit beings having a soul, we also have a body to take care of. God wants us to prosper in all aspects. 3 John 1:2 says, Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 

If you are overweight, losing weight may be your goal to obtain optimal health so that you can fulfill God’s will for your daily living. It takes discipline, consistency, and perseverance when it comes to taking care of your body and losing weight. But you can’t do it without the help and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. We praise our Heavenly Father Who has given us the Advocate to help us in all things in our life. It is important that as you pray to God for weight loss, you obey the voice of the Holy Spirit when He prompts you with regard to your physical body.

First, you can pray to God in this manner regarding your weight:

Heavenly Father, I humbly come before Your presence as I lift to you my concern about my body weight. I know that it is Your will for me to prosper in health just as my soul is prospering. As I plan to take on a weight loss journey, thank You for the victory ahead in Christ Jesus. I trust in Your power at work in me through the Holy Spirit as I train and discipline myself to take care of my body in my goal of losing weight. May You be glorified in all things that I do in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Know that you must put into action your faith to lose weight. James 2:26 says that faith without works is dead. You can pray to God about losing weight, but you must also do your part in reducing. For instance, you can opt to eat vegetables and healthy proteins daily instead of running to eat fast food, munching on junk food, and giving in to other unhealthy sources of food. It takes discipline to be able to say no to the things you used to eat and opt for healthier food options. Moreover, exercising daily is also an important aspect of losing weight. You must make every effort to achieve your goal, backed up by heaven’s grace, as you pray to God about this. 

Know that the grace of God is sufficient. You will be able to discipline yourself, obey the Holy Spirit’s promptings, and do the will of God with regard to your health if you have faith. Believe that Christ in you is greater than anything and that through Christ you can do anything by His strength. 

Can you lose weight by praying?

Who can limit the ways of God? If He can miraculously heal the sight of a blind man in an instant, He can cause you to lose weight in an instant because nothing is impossible with God if you have faith. However, if that is not the case, maybe God wants you to go through a learning process and a journey with Him in losing weight. God doesn’t give us what we want and need instantly because sometimes He wants us to understand and appreciate the journey, as well as the process with Him, to learn more about Who He is.

In this case, praying without really making an effort to lose weight won’t work. You must make sure that as you pray you also put in the effort to lose weight. As mentioned earlier, faith without works is dead (James 2:26). Think about a man who desires to become successful and achieve his dreams. He can daydream all day long about his future career, but he won’t fulfill his dream until he acts upon it. You cannot achieve your dreams if you are lazy and sleep all day long. The same thing for a couple who wants to conceive a child. They can pray to God all they want to have a baby, but if they don’t make an effort to have intercourse and make love, the sperm cell and the egg cell won’t meet, and, thus, no baby can be formed. 

Our bodies are crafted fearfully and wonderfully by God. It can be amazing how God designed our bodies to function and work in certain ways; there are rules, and if we fail to accomplish what the body requires, our health can be put at stake. However, God does bypass bodies in supernatural ways. As mentioned earlier, who can limit what He wants to do? He is God and He can do whatever He wants. 

So, as you pray to lose weight, praise God if He miraculously causes you to lose weight in an instant. You can have faith in it and make sure to testify about it to bring back all the glory to Him. But if that is not the case, be excited still because God is inviting you onto a journey with Him toward weight loss. He will help you get through this. And you will glorify Him with the results. 

What does God say about losing weight?

Losing weight wasn’t particularly mentioned in the Bible, nor was there a character in the Bible who desired to lose weight and prayed to God. However, as 3 John 1:2 says, it is God’s will for us to prosper in our health and in our physical bodies, just as our souls prosper. God desires for our bodies to be in good shape so that we can fulfill His will on earth. Here are some scriptures that can give you insight and revelation into what God is saying concerning our bodies:

1. Romans 12:1

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

2. 1 Corinthians 3:17

If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

3. Philippians 3:18-20

18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:

19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:

4. Ephesians 5:18-20

18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

5. 1 Timothy 4:7-8

7 But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.

8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

6. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

7. Matthew 10:28

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

8. 1 Thessalonians 5:23

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9. James 2:26

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

10. Matthew 6:22-23

22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

11: 1 Corinthians 6:13

Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.

Hopefully, these Bible verses will give you insight into what God’s will is concerning our physical bodies. Just know that whatever may be your reason for losing weight, in the end, it is all for the glorifying of God and accepting His perfect will for you. 

May God bless you on your weight loss journey with Him in Christ Jesus.