As I looked with dismay at the mounds of laundry that I was to wash, dry and fold, I hastily uttered a cursing prayer, “Oh God, why me? Why can’t someone else do this today? I am tired of this never ending duty!”
Little did I know that he would hear this prayer and give me an answer that would bring me to my knees. He opened my tear filled eyes to a new opportunity to spend time with Him in tender fellowship. As I cried out to Him, He showed me how to pray the laundry prayer for my precious family…
Father God, as I sort through these socks, matching and folding, I ask you to direct the paths of my family. Walk with them. Lead them and guide them in paths of righteousness. Protect them Father from evil. May they not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners. May your Word light their path and may they seek your direction.
Oh Lord, as I fold this underwear, I pray for purity for each precious member of this family. Lord, protect each one of us from sexual sin. Lord this world scares me to death with how easy it is to fall into temptation and to be led astray. Oh God, I cry out to you – protect us from this evil. May we not be enticed or delight in this seduction. May wisdom enter our hearts and knowledge be pleasant to our souls so that discretion protects us and understanding guards us. Heavenly Father we are weak and seek your wisdom and strength.
On and on my prayers went as I sorted and folded through the laundry. I couldn’t wait to get to the next set of clothing to pray the next set of prayers. I was praying like my family’s lives depended on it…
Jesus, may these t-shirts remind us to go out each day with our breastplates of righteousness in place; with our shields of faith at the ready. May we daily seek your word and hide it in our hearts so that we are ready to extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one. Oh Lord, as we pull these shirts over our heads, may we remember our helmet of salvation. May we never forget your wondrous work on the cross that provided that salvation. Keep our minds focused on you and your Word. Give us alert minds that will discern truth and may we speak your truth in love.
As we put these pants, skirts or shorts on Lord, remind us to be careful who we choose for our friends. Again, give us discernment and may we seek wise counsel and not give in to peer pressure. May we spend time in your word and not waste time sitting around filling our minds with idle chatter or useless information. May our fellowship be sweet and encouraging. Protect us from the temptation to participate in gossip or slander. May we honor you in our speech. Give us opportunities to share the hope that is within us and to encourage those who are struggling or grieving.
I was amazed at the amount of prayer that doing laundry had invoked! I was humbled by the word pictures each piece of laundry brought to mind and how it could be turned into a prayer for me and my family.
Father God, I pray that you would bless these sheets and pajamas. Give my family peaceful sleep and recuperating rest. May you fill our dreams with thoughts of heaven and spending time with you in eternity.
Lord Jesus, protect our marriage bed! Sanctify our marriage and may we bring honor and glory to you. Keep our hearts pure and may the pleasure you provide solidify our devotion to each other. May the thought of divorce never be spoken or thought of in this household. Protect our vows and may our marriage be a godly example to our family and friends. May we submit to one another as we submit and honor you.
The last pile of laundry that remained was the towels. I will never be able to look at a towel the same again…
Father God, please wash me and heal me. Lord, forgive me for my bad attitude. Forgive me Lord, for it is against you alone that I have sinned. Wash me and clothe me in your righteousness Lord. Wash me and I will be whiter than snow. Create in me a pure heart!
Wash the scales from my eyes. Open my eyes to see your will and your plan for me today. Wash the dirt from the windows of my soul so that I may see the needs of those around me and focus on responding to those needs as you would see fit.
Humble me Lord. As I wash and fold these towels, may I remember that you washed the feet of the disciples, teaching them and us to have the heart of a servant. Lord, I caress this towel with tears of love and gently brush it across this laundry as a symbol and pledge of obedience to have the heart of servant touched by grace toward my family. I pledge to serve them wholeheartedly. Thank you for giving me this wonderful opportunity to bless them with my laundry prayers.
Oh the joy of doing laundry – Thank you Jesus!
Above the Clouds 
This is absolutely inspired by the Holy Spirit wonderful Lana! This would be a wonderful booklet to give to anyone who has to do laundry!!
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I’m glad Ellen sent me over here. The laundry is waiting and my own attitude wasn’t much better than yours (the difference being I’ve been ignoring mine, hoping it would go away).
Excellent thoughts, Lana
I followed Ellen over here too. Actually, I don’t mind doing laundry, but I like your idea of praying for my family as I fold it and put it away. Thanks, Lana.
Thank you so much Lana, for sharing this inspirational idea! I hope you don’t mind that I emailed the pastor of women’s ministries of our church, asking her to have a look at your post, because I think this would be great to share at our Women’s Morning Out program in the Fall. We have 150 or more women who come out weekly from local churches and just from the neighbourhood. We would all benefit from hearing this message, which you have so eloquently written! Laundry will never be the same!
Thanks for sharing. One of my favorites is to see a red light and determine not to get stressed but be Thankful for the precious blood of the Lord Jesus who died for me.
Thank you Father for giving us the Counselor to bring these things to our minds and may we know we worship you often more effectively at the sink, than singing in the worship group.
Thank you for teaching us of Your servant heart Lord Jesus.
So humbled and challenged by these words. Thank you, Lana. I’m joining you in prayer right now.
This was beautiful and encouraging! I’m just in awe how God can show us such powerful things through something so everyday as laundry. I just love it when He does that! Mind if I link this?
Hello! I’ve never been here before but saw Ellen B.’s little blip about you so decided to stop by. I’m so thankful I did! Lately it seems that my duty as “Laundry Mistress” has put me in a very foul mood and I only do laundry for two! I will never again look at a towel and not be reminded of how Jesus wrapped one around His waist to clean the feet of His disciples and it was so encouraging to read about purity. That’s never preached from the pulpit anymore and I feel it’s lacking in the body of Christ.
Thank you! Thank you!
Thanks for your insprired thoughts and prayers.
I’ve copied them and will pray every time I do laundry. That was great! What a way to pray without ceasing.
Absolutely beautiful – thank you for sharing! Blessings!
Definitely a blessing, Lana. Thank you for sharing your heart and its inspiration from the Holy Spirit. Tomorrow is another load of laundry, the towels and sheets in fact. I know now what I will be thinking on.
Thank you Lana. I am just finishing my laundry and I really was moved by your prayers. My friend used to help me hang clothes on the clothesline and she said she prayed for each of her 9 children individually as she hung their little clothes on her clothesline. I did thank Jesus for my washer and dryer tonight too. I know many people that don’t have a washer and dryer in their home and have to go to the laundramat.
Thanks for your beautiful blog and all it’s excellent photos. You are a blessing to me.
This was so inspired. God wanted you to share it. Thank you.
Oh Lana . . . thank you!
Hi Lana, This was wonderful, thanks for sharing your conversation with the Lord. I know you will be in town this weekend. I would love for you to come over and do my laundry, too.
What joy to read this in the thick of doing laundry. You need to put this on YouTube!!! It is a blessing that I plan to print out and go over everytime I fold laundry. Thank you….Jana Marshall
Thank you! I was doing a google search for images on prayer, and a link to your washing machine came up! This was a delightful meditation and prayer.
Dear Lana, I hope that I may use this entry for my small Bible Study group. The ones who have computers, I’ve sent a link. But my older ladies need snail mail.
We are studying Jan Johnson’s “Prayer and Listening” and your thoughts just fit right in.
Thank you!