How To Prepare an Umbrella of God’s Grace for Your Family

Have you ever stepped outside and suddenly been caught in a downpour without an umbrella? Life can feel the same way, especially when you or your family needs God’s grace. 

The storms of life don’t always give a warning, which is why you need a powerful way to stay prepared. Effective, fervent prayer places your family under a divine covering, an umbrella of God’s grace.

That covering opens when you pray, protecting you from being harmed by any of life’s storms. Prayer is the greatest gift you can give your family. Whether you are praying for parents, siblings, a spouse, children or generations yet to come, a prayer of faith creates a spiritual covering that protects them from the storms of life.

That prayer of faith comes from a heart that expects God to hear and respond. God’s grace is already available, but faith is how we receive and release it into our family’s lives.

Three Steps To Preparing an Umbrella of God’s Grace

First, you must pray in Jesus’ Name. Jesus said, “Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!” (John 14:14). That’s the source of your authority. When you made Jesus the Lord of your life, God gave you the right to use His Name. As a believer who is “in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17, KJV), you have immediate access to everything provided by God’s grace.

Next, your prayers must be based on God’s Word. “For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding ‘Yes!’ And through Christ, our ‘Amen’ ascends to God for his glory” (2 Corinthians 1:20). God’s promises are written down so you can rely on them. When you pray according to the Word, you are standing on God’s guarantee that He hears and answers.

Lastly, a prayer of faith requires a determined expectation. When you pray in Jesus’ Name and according to God’s Word, you must believe the answer will come. That expectation is faith. Jesus said even faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains and make the impossible possible (Matthew 17:20). Faith is what keeps the umbrella of God’s grace firmly over your family.

The Umbrella Becomes Your Legacy

As you talk to God and believe He hears you, you leave your family a legacy. That umbrella of blessing and protection begins working the moment you pray and continues until it is needed. God is not limited by time, and neither is the power of prayer.

Your prayers do not stop working when your life on earth is finished. They continue producing results long after you have gone to be with the Lord. When the disciples asked Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray,” He taught them one that is still effective today:

“OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME. YOUR KINGDOM COME. YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN…” (MATTHEW 6:9-10, NKJV).

Those words still bring results because they are rooted in God’s grace and His will. In God’s eyes, a prayer of faith is far more valuable than money, land or possessions. “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results” (James 5:16).

Prayer for Your Family

Use these three steps of prayer to keep your family under the umbrella of God’s grace.

Ask

Take time to write your own covenant prayer. Include at least one promise from God’s Word along with praise and thanksgiving. Keep it where you can see it. Jesus taught that persistent asking works. He told of a widow who refused to stop asking an unjust judge for justice. In the end, the judge answered her because she would not quit. Jesus said God will certainly answer His children who cry out to Him day and night (Luke 18:1-8).

Believe

Continue identifying scriptures that support your prayer. Put them in eyesight on your mirror or refrigerator along with your covenant prayer, and keep praising God. Follow Abraham’s example. He spoke of things that did not yet exist as though they already were. Abraham never wavered in his belief in God’s promise, and was fully convinced that God would do what He said (Romans 4:17, 20-21). Obey each step of faith the Holy Spirit gives you.

Receive 

Jesus made it clear when to believe. You believe you receive the moment you pray. “You can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours” (Mark 11:23-24). Receiving by faith keeps your family under God’s grace for as long as it takes. When you are praying for salvation, protection and blessing over those you love, that covenant prayer continues until Jesus returns.

Pray

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word. Thank You that when I pray, You hear me. I’m coming to You to receive wisdom that I may know how to pray for my family. You have promised to save and bless them, and You have given Your shield of faith that will stop every dart of the enemy. Bring laborers across their paths to remind them of Your goodness, Your love and Your power. Keep them from the enemy and give them peace. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.

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