A Beautiful Family Morning Prayer

Discover the importance of family prayer and get ideas for prayers you can say with your family, including a beautiful family morning prayer.

“A family that prays together stays together.” I am sure you’ve heard this saying countless times, but it’s true! A family that prays together consistently will grow together towards the Lord. In this post, we will discuss not only the importance of family prayer, but of morning prayer. And I will share some prayer ideas for your family, including a beautiful family morning prayer to bring your family closer together and closer to God.

Why is it important to pray as a family?

In today’s busy world, families’ schedules are usually booked with sports and other extracurricular activities. Family dinners have become a thing of the past. Personally, I am not sure whether or not I will let my children do sports when they are old enough. My husband and I want to make family dinner a priority, and most extracurricular activities fall around dinner time. In order for family members to have a deep relationship, they have to spend time together. And family dinners are probably the easiest way to spend time together as a family on a daily basis.

But family dinners aren’t the only way to create closeness within your family. If you are Christian, then family prayer should also be a part of your family’s together time. God is the creator of your family, and so your family should center its thoughts and actions around Him. As the saying goes, “A family that prays together stays together.” A family that wants to remain close, should spend time together. But most of all, they should spend time together in prayer.

What is the importance of morning prayer?

Praying is a good thing to do no matter what time of day. But there is a special significance to morning prayer. Starting the day off with God means starting the day off right! Normally, we prioritize our time by doing what is most important first and leaving the less important tasks or events for later. That way, we make sure that the most important tasks are completed even if we run out of time to complete our to-do list.

What we do first in the day also sets the tone for the rest of the day. Have you ever heard that people who make their bed in the morning are more successful? It is because they start the day off with a sense of order and productivity.

We owe it to God to prioritize our time with Him and to start our day off with Him. We do that by praying first thing in the morning. As soon as your alarm clock sounds with the same ol’ annoying song for the thousandth time, turn it off and thank God for today! I usually say something like, Thank you Lord for this day. Please help me to make the most of it. Whatever words or prayer you choose, spend at least a minute with God every morning.

What is a good prayer for my family to say together?

A good prayer to say with your family is any prayer that you can say consistently. It is much better to pray one short prayer as a family every day then to pray the full fifteen-decade rosary once per month. You can pray any prayer at all with your family, but some good prayers to say with your family are:

1. Grace before meals

This is any easy way to sprinkle prayer throughout your family’s day if you are a stay-at-home mom with stay-at-home kids. But even if you aren’t, you can say grace before meals as a family before dinner. And if you can’t do family dinners, then consider doing family dessert!

2. The Angelus

This is a prayer about the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, when “the word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” The Angelus is traditionally said at 6am, noon, and 6pm. Honestly, I’m still asleep at 6am most mornings, but you can say the Angelus at any time you like!

3. The Rosary

Many Catholics have a devotion to the Rosary. On multiple occasions, the Blessed Virgin Mary has asked us, the sons and daughters of God, to pray the Rosary. However, saying a full rosary is daunting to some families. If you can’t say a full Rosary, consider starting with one decade of the Rosary each day.

4. Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office)

The Liturgy of the Hours, or the Divine Office, are the official Church prayers that Catholic monks and nuns say each day. There are specific prayers for 6am, 9am, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm, and 9pm. Even if you don’t live in a monastery, you can choose one of them to say each day as a family. The evening prayers at 6pm are a common one for the laity to say.

5. The Holy Mass

This is the most powerful prayer of all! All of the angels and saints unite at every Holy Mass, and our Lord is present – body, blood, soul, and divinity – in the Eucharist at every Mass. In fact, the Mass is so important that one of the precepts of the Catholic Church is to attend Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation. And some Catholics do not know this, but to intentionally skip Mass is a mortal sin.

6. Family Morning Prayer

And of course, a family morning prayer is a great option for family prayer! It is a simple way to start off the day as a family with God. Below is a beautiful family morning prayer to say with your family.

A Beautiful Family Morning Prayer

O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer You my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, in reparation for my sins, for the intentions of all my relatives and friends, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father. Amen.

If you prefer, you can replace each “I” with “we” and each “my” with “our” in this traditional morning offering. In fact, you can add “we” and “our” to any prayer, because you can speak to God with whatever words you like. I often pray the Guardian Angel Prayer using “us” and “our,” instead of “me” and “my,” to pray to my children’s and my guardian angels before I go to sleep.

Conclusion

Hopefully now you are convinced of the importance of family prayer and are motivated to make family prayer a part of your daily routine. However, you don’t need to use this specific family morning prayer. You can use any prayer at all, including but not limited to the list of prayers I suggested above. But one thing is for sure: family is important. Most friends will come and go, but family is forever. So if you want your family to stick together, center it on Christ!

What is your main stumbling block to praying together with your family? Let me know in the comments below!

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