If you are looking for a short prayer for a closer family, this page gives you one you can pray aloud at the kitchen table, in the car, or at bedtime. Read it as written, or use it as a starting point and put your own family’s names and needs into it. Families often drift apart through busy schedules, unspoken hurts and simple tiredness, so a prayer like this gives you a steady place to bring those things before God.
Short Prayer for a Closer Family
Father, you know each person in our home by name. You know who is quiet at dinner, who is carrying something heavy at work or school, and who has not said what is really on their heart. We ask you to draw us together. Make our home a place where people feel safe enough to speak honestly and kind enough to listen well. Soften the sharp words we have said to one another, and give us the humility to say sorry first.
Lord, help us to make room for each other. Give us patience with the differences between us, and give us the wisdom to see each person as you see them. Where there is distance, bring us back toward one another. Where there is silence, give us the courage to speak. Let our shared meals, our long drives and our ordinary evenings become times where we know and enjoy one another more. Amen.
A Shorter Version to Pray in a Moment
Lord, bring our family close again. Soften the hard places between us, give us patience with each other, and help us listen before we speak. Remind us that we belong to one another and to you. Be with each person here today, and let your peace settle over our home. Amen.
Scriptures to Pray Alongside
Psalm 133:1
See how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity!
(WEB)
Pray this verse as a hope for your family, asking God to make brothers and sisters, parents and children, dwell together in real unity. Thank him for the good that comes when people live side by side in peace.
Ephesians 4:2-3
2 With all lowliness and humility, with patience, bearing with one another in love; 3 being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
(WEB)
Read this slowly and ask God to form patience, gentleness and humility in each person in your home. Then ask him to help you keep the peace that holds your family together.
Colossians 3:13
Bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.
(WEB)
Use this verse to pray for forgiveness where hurts remain. Ask God to help each person bear with the others and to release old grievances so the family can move forward.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5
4 Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, 5 doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil…
(WEB)
Let this passage shape your prayer for how family members treat one another. Ask God to make love patient and kind in your home, and to guard against irritation and keeping score.
Romans 12:10
In love of the brothers be tenderly affectionate to one another; in honor preferring one another…
(WEB)
Pray this verse for affection and honor within your household. Ask God to help each person show warmth and respect to the others, especially when it is not easy.
How to Pray This Prayer
Choose a time when the house is fairly calm, such as after dinner or just before bed. If everyone can gather in one room, invite each person to say one thing they are thankful for before you pray. Keep the prayer short enough that younger children can stay with it, and let older members add their own sentences if they want to.
Some families find it helpful to hold hands or to place a hand on the shoulder of the person beside them while praying. If you are praying alone, keep a small note of your family members’ names near you and pray for each one by name after the prayer. Others in your household, a grandparent, a close friend or a faith group, can also pray this with you when they are able.
A Blessing to Close
May the Lord bless this family and keep each one close to his heart. May he make your home a place of warmth, honesty and grace, and may every person who lives in it know that they are known, loved and held together in him.
