This page offers prayers for confirmations, written for parents, godparents, sponsors, pastors and friends who want to pray for someone preparing to affirm their faith or receive the sacrament. Pray the longer prayer before the service or during the weeks of preparation, and pray the shorter one in a quiet moment on the day itself. You can read these words aloud exactly as written, or use them as a starting point and speak in your own voice.
Prayers for Confirmations
Lord, thank you for the young person (or adult) standing before you on this day. You have been at work in them long before they knew how to name it, in the questions they asked, the people who loved them, and the moments that made them curious about faith. Be near them now as they take this step. Quiet the nerves in their stomach and the doubts in their mind, and give them a steady sense that they are known and wanted by you.
Give them an honest heart. Let them ask hard questions without fear, and let them find that you welcome those questions. Where they feel unsure of what they believe, meet them with patience. Where they feel sure, keep them humble and grateful. Help them to understand that confirmation is not the end of their faith but one more place where you are calling them to keep walking with you, one day at a time.
Be with the family and friends gathered around them. Strengthen the parents who have prayed for years and the mentors who have taught patiently. Let everyone in the room leave with a deeper love for you and for one another. We ask all of this in the name of Jesus, who walks beside us always. Amen.
A Shorter Version to Pray in a Moment
Father, I hold this person before you right now. Calm their heart, steady their voice, and remind them that you have chosen them and will not let them go. Fill them with your Spirit for the road ahead, and let this day mark a true beginning in their walk with you. Thank you for your faithfulness, which goes before us and stays with us. Amen.
Scriptures to Pray Alongside
Psalm 139:13-14
13 For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well.
(WEB)
Pray this over the person being confirmed, thanking God that he formed them with care and knows them completely. It reminds them that their faith rests on a God who has been present since before they were born.
Ephesians 3:16-17
16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man; 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love…
(WEB)
Ask God to strengthen the candidate’s inner life by his Spirit, so that Christ may dwell in their heart. Pray this especially for the weeks after the service, when the excitement fades and steady roots matter most.
Romans 8:38-39
38 For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from God’s love, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(WEB)
Pray that nothing in the candidate’s future will separate them from God’s love. Use this verse to speak courage into any fear they may carry about the changes ahead.
Isaiah 40:31
But those who wait for the LORD will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.
(WEB)
Ask God to renew their strength for the long walk of faith. Pray that they will wait on the Lord and not grow weary when following him becomes slow or hard.
Philippians 1:6
Being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
(WEB)
Thank God that he who began a good work will carry it on to completion. Pray this verse as a reminder that confirmation is one stage in a lifelong work that God himself is doing.
How to Pray This Prayer
The morning of the service is a good time to pray the longer prayer, while the house is still quiet. Find a place you can sit without interruption, such as a kitchen chair or a pew before the others arrive. Holding a small cross, a Bible, or the candidate’s confirmation card in your hands can help keep your attention from drifting.
Invite others to pray it with you. A parent, grandparent, sponsor, or youth leader can each read a paragraph aloud, so the prayer becomes a shared offering for the person being confirmed. You might also write the candidate’s name at the top of the page and pray the shorter version again during the service whenever your mind wanders back to them.
A Blessing to Close
May the Lord go before them and walk beside them, and may his peace guard their heart and mind. May they know, in the days to come, that they belong to Christ and are loved without measure. May God bless them and keep them, now and always.
