Prayers to pray out loud, with the Scripture underneath each one
These are written to be said out loud. Not because volume accomplishes anything, but because praying silently about something frightening tends to turn into thinking about something frightening, and those are not the same activity.
Every prayer here is followed by the passage it came from. Use them as they are, or read them once and then pray your own version badly. The second is better.
A word before you read on: not everything that hurts is an attack. Scripture is direct about the enemy and just as direct about sin, illness, exhaustion and grief, which are not the same thing and do not have the same remedy. If you are having physical symptoms, see a doctor. If your thoughts have turned frightening or intrusive, tell someone today — a friend, your pastor, a counsellor. In the US and Canada you can call or text 988 any hour of the day. None of that is a failure of faith, and none of it is in competition with prayer.
Two things worth settling first, because they shape everything below.
These prayers are addressed to God, not to the enemy. That is not a stylistic preference. In Jude 1:9 the archangel Michael, in a direct dispute with the devil, will not pronounce judgement on his own authority — he says "the Lord rebuke you". The Lord's Prayer asks the Father to deliver us from the evil one. Appeal to the authority; do not perform it.
And nothing here is a formula. There are no words in this list that work because they are the right words. Scripture has a name for prayers that operate by correct phrasing, and it is not a flattering one (Matthew 6:7). These are borrowed sentences for when you cannot find your own.
But even the archangel Michael, when he disputed with the devil over the body of Moses, did not presume to bring a slanderous charge against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
Jude 1:9
9 So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
Matthew 6:9-13
7 And when you pray, do not babble on like pagans, for they think that by their many words they will be heard.
8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
Matthew 6:7-8
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 4:7
Ephesians 6:13 says to take up the armor "so that when the day of evil comes" you are able to stand. The tense is doing work. The armor goes on before, not during.
Before the day starts
Father, before anything else happens today I want to say out loud that I belong to You. I am not walking into this day on my own strength or my own judgement. Give me truth when I am being told something false, and enough steadiness that I do not have to win every exchange. Where there is an enemy in today, I am asking You to deal with him. Where there is only me and my own foolishness, deal with that too. Amen.
Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand.
Ephesians 6:13
In the morning, O LORD, You hear my voice; at daybreak I lay my plea before You and wait in expectation.
Psalm 5:3
22 Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.
23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!
Lamentations 3:22-23
2 Corinthians 10:5 is the passage for this and it is worth reading slowly. Paul talks about arguments and pretensions — the enemy's work described here is persuasion, not force. What gets demolished is a case being made, and the way you demolish a case is with a truer one.
So the prayer below is mostly a request for accurate thinking. That is less dramatic than it sounds and more useful.
When your thoughts have turned against you
Lord, I cannot tell right now which of these thoughts are true. Some of them sound like me and some of them sound like an accusation, and I have lost track of which is which. Would You take every argument in my head that is set against what You have said, and pull it down. I am not asking to feel better first. I am asking to think accurately, and to believe You over the voice that is louder. Amen.
When shame keeps re-arguing a case God has closed
Father, You have already forgiven this. I keep being brought back to it as though the verdict were still open, and I keep agreeing to reopen it. Revelation calls him the accuser, and this feels like an accusation rather than conviction — conviction sends me to You, and this only ever sends me inward. Let the blood of Christ be the last word on it, because it is. Amen.
3 For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh.
4 The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
5 We tear down arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down—he who accuses them day and night before our God.
Revelation 12:10
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:1
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things.
Philippians 4:8
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9
This is Ephesians 6:14-17 turned back into a prayer, one piece at a time. It is an old practice and a good one, mostly because it slows the passage down enough to notice that every item is something Christ supplies rather than something you achieve.
Putting it on, piece by piece
Father, I put on the belt of truth — hold me to what is actually so today, about You and about me. The breastplate of righteousness — not mine, Christ's, over the part of me that is still a mess. The shoes of the gospel of peace — let me carry peace into rooms instead of taking sides in them. The shield of faith, over every flaming thing aimed at me that I will not see coming. The helmet of salvation — guard my mind with the fact that I am saved, whatever today suggests. And the sword of the Spirit, which is Your word: put the right verse in my mouth at the right moment, the way You did for Your Son in the wilderness. Amen.
14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed,
15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace.
16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Ephesians 6:14-17
He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on His head; He put on garments of vengeance and wrapped Himself in a cloak of zeal.
Isaiah 59:17
But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Matthew 4:4
Joshua 24:15 is a declaration made about a household by the person responsible for it. Praying over a home is not superstition about the building; it is a claim staked about what happens inside it.
Over your house
Lord, this house is Yours. I am asking You to make it a place where the truth is easy to say and hard to avoid. Drive out whatever has been allowed in here — by me, by what we watch, by the arguments we keep having in the same words. Let the people who live here be safe, and let the people who visit leave lighter than they came. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Amen.
Over your marriage
Father, we are not each other's enemy. We have been acting like it, and I have been keeping score. Whatever is working to divide us, break it. Give us the humility to go first — both of us, and me before I have decided the other one deserves it. Bind us back together in something stronger than our own goodwill, because ours keeps running out. Amen.
But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!”
Joshua 24:15
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Ephesians 6:12
And though one may be overpowered, two can resist. Moreover, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 4:12
Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.
Matthew 12:25
A song of ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the LORD protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain.
Psalm 127:1
2 Corinthians 4:4 is the verse that reframes this one. It describes unbelief as blindness that has been caused, which moves the person you are praying for out of the enemy column and into the hostage column. That should change the tone of the prayer, and usually the tone of the conversations too.
For a child, a spouse, a friend who has walked away
Father, I am not praying against them. I am praying against whatever has blinded them. Lift it. Let them see Christ plainly, just once, without the noise. Send someone they will actually listen to, and if that is never going to be me, I will take that. Guard them while they are far off. And keep me kind in the waiting, because I have not always been. Amen.
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
25 He must gently reprove those who oppose him, in the hope that God may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth.
26 Then they will come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, who has taken them captive to his will.
2 Timothy 2:25-26
So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.
Luke 15:20
1 First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone—
2 for kings and all those in authority—so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity.
3 This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,
4 who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
1 Timothy 2:1-4
Fear at night is one of the few things Scripture addresses by name and by hour. Psalm 91:5 and Psalm 4:8 both do it. Whatever is behind it — and it is usually not what you think at 3am — these are the passages the church has prayed in the dark for a very long time.
In the middle of the night
Lord, I am awake and I am afraid, and I cannot argue myself out of it at this hour. Psalm 4 says You alone make me dwell in safety, so I am taking You at Your word instead of waiting to feel safe. Quiet this house and quiet my head. Let me sleep. You do not sleep, so one of us does not need to be watching. Amen.
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the LORD, “You are my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
3 Surely He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly plague.
4 He will cover you with His feathers; under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the calamity that destroys at noon.
Psalm 91:1-6
I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:8
3 He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber.
4 Behold, the Protector of Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
Psalm 121:3-4
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.
2 Timothy 1:7
When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you rest, your sleep will be sweet.
Proverbs 3:24
Paul asked three times and the thorn stayed. Whatever else that passage settles, it settles this: a fight that has not ended is not proof that you have prayed wrongly. Galatians 6:9 is written to people who are tired, not to people who are failing.
When nothing has changed yet
God, I have prayed this so many times that the words have gone flat. Nothing has changed and I am tired of asking. I am asking anyway. If this is being permitted the way Job's was, then hold the boundary You set on it and hold me inside it. If Your grace is going to be sufficient rather than Your rescue, then let it actually be sufficient, because right now I only have that verse and not the experience of it. I am still standing here. Amen.
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.
10 That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:8-10
Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:9
Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand.
Ephesians 6:13
“Very well,” said the LORD to Satan. “Everything he has is in your hands, but you must not lay a hand on the man himself.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
Job 1:12
1 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle in my soul, with sorrow in my heart each day? How long will my enemy dominate me?
Psalm 13:1-2
29 He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.
31 But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:29-31
Pick one — just one — and pray it out loud tonight where you can hear yourself. Then tell one other Christian what you are actually fighting. Every passage on this page assumes company: Paul writes Ephesians 6 to a church in the plural, James pairs resisting the devil with confessing to each other, and the one consistent feature of people who lose heart in this is that they were doing it alone.
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One that asks God to act rather than instructing the enemy, and that names something specific. The prayers on this page are grouped by situation for that reason — a prayer about your thoughts and a prayer about your marriage are asking for different things. If you want a single starting point, pray Ephesians 6:14-17 back to God one piece at a time.
Submit first, then resist — James 4:7 puts them in that order and the order is the instruction. Practically: name what is happening to God plainly, ask Him to deal with it, take up Scripture that contradicts what you are being told, and tell another believer. Also rule out the ordinary causes; exhaustion and untreated illness produce many of the same symptoms and need different help.
Scripture is more cautious here than a lot of Christian practice is. Jude 1:9 has the archangel Michael declining to rebuke the devil on his own authority, saying "the Lord rebuke you" instead. Resisting the enemy is commanded (James 4:7); addressing him directly is barely modelled. Appeal to God — that is where the authority actually is.
Psalm 91 is the one the church has prayed longest, and Psalm 4:8 is the short version for the middle of the night. For protection of the mind specifically, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 and Philippians 4:8. For a household, Joshua 24:15 and Psalm 127:1.
No, and nothing depends on it. But praying silently about something frightening slides very easily into ruminating about something frightening, and saying the words makes the difference audible. That is the only reason for the suggestion.
Scripture quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible, which is free of copyright restrictions for use on websites. Read the full Bible on Great Faith.