Prayer to Fulfill God’s Purpose for My Family

Modern Families Were Made for Something

Turning to the Bible, we see that from the beginning God has commissioned not just individuals, but whole families. He gave his creation mandate—to fill and subdue the earth—to male and female together (Gen. 1:28).

Working and taking care of the Garden of Eden wasn’t something Adam could do alone. So God created Eve as his coworker and companion. Later on, their marriage produced children to “fill the earth” and share in the task of subduing it.

When families aren’t working together toward a common mission, they can more easily drift apart.

God’s covenant with Abraham also had Abraham’s whole household in view: “For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him” (Gen. 18:18–19).

In ancient Israel, God held parents responsible for apprenticing the next generation into his creation mandate and covenant requirements. He commanded whole households to rest on the Sabbath, because whole households worked and worshiped together (Ex. 20:9–10).

In the early church we see that evangelism also became a family concern. People like Cornelius, Lydia, and the Philippian jailer welcomed the apostles and their message into their homes. Their households were then baptized into Christ and his mission. Luke writes about the believers in Tyre: “All of them, including wives and children, accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray” (Acts 21:5).

Families have a God-given purpose: They fill and subdue the earth, rehearse God’s covenant promises, and pass on the gospel of Jesus in word and deed. A strong family isn’t an end in itself; godly families do something together for the good of the world and the glory of God.

Our shared mission strengthens relationships within the family, yes, but it spreads out from there to bless the world around us.