We all have a mom! A woman in whose womb God created us and brought us into the world. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb (Psalms 139:13). Even if she wasn’t the woman who raised and nurtured you, she gave you the gift of life. For those with a mother who devoted her life to making sure you were safe and secure until you could go out on your own, she deserves honor, love, prayers, and devotion. Sometimes it’s easy to take moms for granted, but without the mother who birthed us, we would not have experienced the breath of life.
Why Should We Pray for Our Moms?
Unfortunately, we’re living in a culture where motherhood is coming under attack. Recently, there was even an attempt in Congress to remove the term mother and replace it with “birthing person.” Fortunately, that ridiculous idea received extreme pushback, but some people still use that innocuous term to negate the biological fact that only a woman can enjoy the privilege of giving birth to a child.
Many have enjoyed the benefits of having a praying mother. Dwight L. Moody encouraged mothers, “The impression that a praying mother leaves upon her children is life-long. Perhaps when you are dead and gone your prayer will be answered.” He was saying that a mother might not see the answer to prayers in her lifetime, but God hears the cries and prayers of a mother’s heart, and they may be answered after we’re with Jesus. So don’t stop praying. In my book Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter, I sign it, “Keep praying! 1 Thess. 5:17.”
Billy Graham also talked about the blessings of having a Christian mother. “Only God Himself fully appreciates the influence of a Christian mother in the molding of character in her children.”
Not every child has a praying or Christian mother, but every child can pray for his or her mother. As a mother and stepmother, it warms my heart and soul when one of my children tells me they’re praying for me. I feel loved, cherished, and appreciated. “May she who gave you birth be joyful!” Proverbs 23:25
Following, are prayers you might consider for the season of life your mother is experiencing at this time. She will feel those prayers even if you’re miles apart.
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1. Prayer for Your Mom's Faith
Dear Father in Heaven, I pray that my mother’s faith will be in you alone. That she would cast away the cares of the world and trust you to guide her in every aspect of her life. If she’s wandered far from you, or maybe never given her life to you, I pray she will seek you with all her heart and soul and find you in the way ordained before she was even born. Let her experience and enjoy a born-again life. May her love for you, Jesus, shine through the love she shows to her children.
Lord, I want my mom in heaven with me and all the believers in our family. I plead for you, Lord, to strengthen her faith and reliance on you. Let me be a replica of your love for her, and always show my mom how much I love her. Amen.
2. Prayer for Your Mom's Health
Father, you are the great Jehovah Rapha, the healer, and protector of my mom. I pray that she would take good care of herself and follow healthy habits eating nutritionally, exercising as she’s able, keeping doctors’ appointments for physicals and checkups, and staying spiritually strong. If she is suffering from any ill health Lord, you know exactly those areas where her body needs to be healed and restored. Give wisdom to the doctors and health practitioners and grant her discipline in following their instructions and guidelines.
It’s so painful watching my mother suffer in any area of her life, physically, emotionally, or spiritually. As she was there for me during my childhood illnesses, give me the opportunity and desire to be present for her encouragement and caretaking when necessary. Help me remember what you say in Proverbs 23:22 that even as our mother ages, she will need us even more, “Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.” Amen.
3. Prayer for Your Mom’s Relationships
Lord, I pray that my mom would be blessed with friendships that mutually build each other up, encourage each other, and that they would laugh, cry, and spiritually grow together. Let her be a light to everyone she meets and guide her to people who share her faith in you, or those who would lead her to a closer relationship with you, or perhaps she could lead them to know your peace and love. You remind us to choose our friends carefully and I pray my mom remembers, “There are friends who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24). I pray my mom has true friends who bless her as she blesses them.
If she is struggling with any other relational issues, give her discernment and direction in how to resolve them. Please remove any unhealthy relationships in her life. I pray for my mother that she would have relationships like Paul describes in Philippians 2:5 “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.” Amen.
4. Prayer for Your Mom’s Relationship with You
Lord, I love my mom, and I know she loves me even though we don’t always agree on everything. I ask Jesus that you would keep us both humble and open-minded to the other’s point of view that might differ from our own. Help us to have loving, respectful debate that may simply result in agreeing to disagree.
Love conquers most differences, and even though moms raise us, they also know we are our own person with different influences, persuasions, likes, and dislikes, but love for each other helps us overcome anything divisive. Remind me to follow your command to honor my mother and father and not let outside forces divide us. Family is by your design Lord, and I shouldn’t let anger, confusion, political or cultural differences distract me from my relationship with mom. Help me be the one who asks for forgiveness first and always tell my mom how much I love her. Love conquers a multitude of emotions. Amen.
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5. Prayer for Your Stepmom, Adoptive Mom, Mother-in-Law, or Spiritual Mom
Father, you have blessed me with moms who didn’t birth me physically, but you birthed love for me in their hearts as if I came from their very own womb. When we become Christians, you adopt us into your family of God and what a beautiful earthly depiction of this when a woman not only legally but emotionally adopts a child to love and cherish with no distinction between those she personally birthed. What joy to hold her child and provide him or her with the gift of a new life and family raised and nurtured by a loving mom. Lord, we pray for all the moms who provided a forever home for a child at any age.
Many moms figuratively or literally adopt children through marriage to a husband with children. As a stepmom myself, I know, Lord, that it’s you that opens a woman’s heart to love a child perhaps only seen on a part-time schedule, but is always full-time in her mind and family. I pray for every stepmom who might just be taking on that role. Lord, please give her peace, patience, and understanding as she loves her husband’s biological children because they are a part of him.
Mothers-in-law also come into our lives as a part of our husband’s nuclear family and the woman who raised him to be the man we fell in love with. Men also have mothers-in-law. While often the brunt of tasteless jokes, these moms are the reason she has a husband or he has his wife. So, we pray for each mother-in-law whose children leave and cleave to create their own family, but may we always have respect, love, and appreciation for the moms who raised our spouses.
Father, you tell us in so many verses like Titus 2:3-5 and Psalms 145:4 that women who are further along in their faith should teach and train younger women. We praise you Lord, for every woman who is following your direction to spiritually mother by sharing the Scriptures and her life with a spiritually younger woman. Thank you for each mentor’s dedication to your Word and for the time, energy, and love they share with the next generation. Please bless their lives and their families. Amen.
6. Prayer for Single Moms
Lord, we know it was never your plan for a mother to raise her children alone, but so many women like my own mother and I found ourselves in those difficult roles trying to be both parents to our children while also providing for all their needs. I pray, Father, that you would give these single moms an abundance of faith, opportunities, endurance, strength, and provision.
Being a single mom, especially of multiple children, is one of the hardest and most tiring roles there is, but it can also be a blessing to watch her children become resourceful, independent, and successful contributors to their own family and society. We know this can only happen when single moms depend on you as their spiritual Husband and Father and by bringing their children to church and letting the church family help raise and provide for them. Direct every single mom to seek and find a church that understands and applies James 1:27 “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” Amen.
7. Prayer for a Wannabe Mom
Father, there are so many women today who like Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah in the Bible are longing to be a mom. I know that emptiness as I and two of our daughters struggled with infertility wondering if we would ever be able to fulfill the role and purpose we felt you had for us to be a mommy. Lord, many of these women feel like they’re losing their sanity. We ask that the Holy Spirit help each one to regain her stability in emotions and actions. As dark as it may seem right now, help them know it won’t go on forever. You will show each one the plans you have for her that are good and not meant to harm her.
Help these wannabe moms trust your plans for their lives and relieve them of the stress, sadness, and turmoil they’re experiencing. Help them to breathe in the Holy Spirit’s peace and exhale out friction, pain, and sadness. Replace it with hope, joy, and love for their spouse. May she “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” Romans 12:12. Amen.
Love Your Mom
It’s been said that there’s nothing deeper than a mother’s love for her children. The Bible confirms, “Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.” Psalm 127:3
As we pray for our mom, it’s important to also honor her in practical ways like patience, showing appreciation, taking time to reminisce and listen, asking her advice, and always remembering to say “I love you, mom!”
Her children arise and call her blessed. Proverbs 31:28
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