20 Prayers for Weight Loss

Whether you’re in the midst of losing twenty, sixty, or one hundred and fifty pounds, it’s ok to ask God to lead your weight loss journey. In fact, He wants to be part of every aspect of our lives. In our own desires, we’d love to give in to the urges of the moment when we feel tempted by the second piece of cheesecake. We have the power of prayer to help us overcome. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Sometimes we get too busy to remember to pray. When possible, it’s important to pray scripture over your circumstances. We’ve made it easy for you to include God in your goals by creating this easy reference with 20 prayers for weight loss. God doesn’t expect a full theological dialog when you pray for His strength. Your specific prayer can be short and authentic. Try these prayers for your weight loss journey and honor God while you heal your body of access body fat that is causing you to feel sluggish and tired.

1. Overeating Confession

Sometimes you might feel awful for overeating because you had set a goal to be mindful of your portion control. It’s a mistake that can set you back if you let shame take over. Remember that you can simply confess, acknowledge your misstep, and move on! The book of Hebrews reminds us in chapter 3 verse 1: “Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession.”

Prayer: Jesus, please help me when I desire to overeat. Let one plate and one portion be enough for my stomach. Give me your strength to overcome the temptation. I cannot do this on my own.  

2. Prayer for Endurance

Since weight loss is a long journey and often takes many months to see change and even years of consistency to keep it off, you need the endurance to keep going. Hebrews 12:1-2 is a wonderful guide for daily prayer to keep going. It says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Prayer: Lord, give me the endurance I need to persist with lifelong healthy habits. I long to serve you with my body.

3. Prayer for Healthy Desires and Cravings

It’s hard to change our desires from unhealthy choices to healthy ones, but the more we do it the easier it becomes. The goal is to eventually desire healthy choices more than unhealthy ones. It takes time. John 6:35 says: Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

Prayer: Lord I want to crave a relationship with you over fast food and surgery treats. Help me turn to you when my desire is to satisfy my emotions with comfort foods and desserts.

4. Prayer to Help Create New Habits

Prayer: Lord, this has been hard. I went many years not paying attention to the nutritional value of my food. I refused exercise as if I was allergic to it. I know I need to create new healthy habits that can be sustainable for life. I pray for this weight loss journey. I need your help and healing. I need your encouragement to keep tracking my habits and choosing what is good for my body. Remind me that this is more than just a prayer for weight loss, but a prayer for long-term health so I can live to love my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

5. Prayer to Fight Temptation

In Matthew 26:41 Jesus reminds the disciples to “Stay awake and pray, so that you won’t enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” This is a command for you too. As a human, you will be tempted and, as Jesus declared, “the flesh is weak.”

Prayer: I lift you up God, for sending Jesus to earth to die for the sins of your people. I know my flesh is weak and I struggle to overcome temptations. My desire is to lose weight and honor you as I get healthy. Please help me make wise choices and pray often because I sometimes give in to the temptations when I really don’t want to.

6. Prayer for Surrender to God’s Healthy Plans

God wants good for your life. He says so in His word. He wants you to praise Him in both the good times and the bad. When your scale goes up and when it goes down, praise His holy name. In Jeremiah 29:11 it says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Prayer: Lord, I know you have good plans for me and you are for me. I know you have plans to help me prosper because you tell me that in Jeremiah 29:11. Help me remember you are with me in this fight and I can do this while honoring You. 

7. Prayer to Stay Active and Exercise

God designed your body to move on His earth. In our modern times though, we sit at our computers, we sit and scroll our phones, we sit and watch TV, and we sit and drive our cars. It wasn’t supposed to be that way. Our bodies were created to move. In Genesis 2:15 it says, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”

Prayer: Jesus, give me the courage and stamina to get up and move my body every day. Remind me to park further away at the grocery store. Prompt me to take the stairs instead of the elevators. Wake me up in the mornings and nudge me to get up and exercise. I want to take care of this one body you blessed me with.

8. A Prayer When I Feel Unlovable

If you have struggled to lose weight for a long time, it’s possible you are dealing with shame and feeling unlovable. God loves you more than you will ever be able to comprehend. You are already beautiful in His eye at the current weight you are right now. Jesus already took the shame, sadness, and pain you feel on the cross. Leave it there at his feet

Prayer: Jesus, thank you for saving me. Thank you for taking my inadequacies to the cross with you. I am unworthy of your grace and love, yet you still adore me. Help me remember that you love me no matter what the scale says. Help me remember I am focused on weight loss because I desire to have more energy and zest to love on my family and serve your hurting people.

9. A prayer of Rescue When I Feel Desperate for Change

Your weight loss efforts don’t always show up on the scale. In fact, that scale can play a mind game with you when it doesn’t budge. It can feel tempting to give up when you are longing for change, but not seeing the evidence of your consistency. We must also remember that our weight loss goals matter but they cannot become our idols. We can find contentment in Christ at every part of our weight loss journey. 1 Timothy 6:6-7 reminds us that we can be content. It says, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out.”

Prayer: Father God, thank you for a body that functions, moves, goes, and does. Thank you for blessing me with organs that work properly. I desire to honor this vessel, my body, by living for you. Help me remain content at each phase of losing weight. I know change will come and I believe in your provision over my life.

10. A Prayer for Strength When I Don’t Feel Strong Enough to Make Healthy Choices

I bet you sometimes feel like starting that new fad diet that everyone is doing even though you know it might not be the best fit for you. It’s important that you slow the change process down and pray before jumping on the next bandwagon. Bandwagons aren’t made to last.

Proverbs 3:5-8 reminds us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight. Don’t be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil. This will be healing for your body and strengthening for your bones.”

Prayer: Lord, I am weak sometimes and just want to give up. You are strong and I need your perseverance. Remind me that this is healing for my body and healing takes time. Call to my attention when I am getting weak and about to make an unhealthy choice.

11. A Prayer for the Right Mindset

When you feel your mindset slipping, pray this verse and remind yourself of this truth: Romans 8:6 says, “Now the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace.”

Prayer: Father, I get negative sometimes. I even tend to talk to myself in negative ways. I want to break those thoughts. I want to see myself the way you see me. Please remind me of your grace and love over my life. I need your nurturing kindness to break these patterns of thought which sabotage my day and week sometimes.

12. A Prayer for Forgiveness When I Overeat

Proverbs 23:1 warns us what we will feel like after overeating. It says, for the drunkard and the glutton will become poor, and grogginess will clothe them in rags.

Prayer: Dear God, I do feel groggy and sluggish when I overate. I feel uncomfortable in my clothes and sometimes it affects my bowels. I do not usually intend on overeating, but I seem to dissociate in the moment and stuff my face. Lord, help me be more mindful of how my tummy feels and only eat to 80% full.

13. Prayer for Physical and Spiritual Thirst

Matthew 25:35 says “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took me in.” This is a beautiful reminder that God is the supplier of our every physical and spiritual need. 

Prayer: I need a relationship with you more than I need food or water. I need you more than I need this weight loss. Help me keep sight of you. I desire to honor you in this process because I know nothing will satisfy me more than your love.

14. A Prayer Against the Envy of Others

Galatians 5:26 tells us “Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” So often we will feel okay about ourselves until we see another woman whose jeans fit better and seems to possess a level of self-control in her eating choices that illudes us. It’s so easy to envy her healthy habits and feel sorry for ourselves, which only causes us to overeat more. It’s a vicious cycle.  

Prayer: Lord I need help to not envy my sisters in Christ who are further along in their journey than I am. Help me to remember that the circumstances in their life are not the same as mine. Let me rejoice over my sister who has conquered her battle with weight loss, and remember that she is probably facing other hidden battles I know nothing about. Help me to see her and instead of envying her, be encouraged and motivated by her. 

15. A Prayer for Wisdom in Weight Loss

James 1:5 tells us how to gain wisdom in any area of our life, including prayers for weight loss: “Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.”

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, I need your wisdom in my weight loss journey. Please lead me to the best exercise and healthy eating habits that will work well for my body and life. Give me the wisdom I need to apply healthy habits to my daily routine. Give me insight and wisdom so I can listen to the body you gave me and treat it well. 

16. A Prayer for Comfort on the Days I Feel Discouraged

The best comfort comes from God. You may have tried other comforts in your past but nothing satisfies the longing you have to feel the presence of God. 2 Corinthians 1:6 reminds us, “If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in your patient endurance of the same sufferings that we suffer.” We can rely on the Holy Spirit for our comfort.” 

Prayer: Jesus, I praise you first and foremost for your everlasting forgiveness. I am guilty of sometimes choosing food over your peaceful comfort. When I choose to slow my thoughts and pray for weight loss instead of invoking shame on myself, I feel deep comfort. Guide my way. Clear my path of the temptation of shame. Help me to choose you when I feel both discouraged and triumphant.

17. A Prayer to Break the Strongholds Food Has on Me

2 Corinthians 10:4-6 tells us “since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ. And we are ready to punish any disobedience, once your obedience is complete.” Comfort food can become an idol in our lives without us realizing it. We can go to food instead of the Holy Spirit for the comfort our soul’s needs. Let us remember that our battle against the strongholds of food is not only physical but also spiritual. 

Prayer: Holy Spirit I ask that you would help me fight this spiritual battle against the stronghold that food has in my life. I know the enemy wants me defeated, sick, and tired. The enemy of my soul delights when I find comfort in food instead of you Lord. Give me the supernatural power to overcome this. 

18. A Prayer to Take My Worry and Anxiety Over Weight Loss Captive

1 Peter 5:6-9 tells us to “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time,  casting all your cares on him because he cares about you.  Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of suffering is being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.”

Prayer: Dear Lord I confess my anxious thoughts and worry about my weight loss to you. I know my adversary the devil wants my mind focused on worrying about how I look, what others think of me, and anxiety over my health failing. Thank you, God, that I can cast all these cares on you because you care deeply for me. Thank you for guiding me every step of the way on my weight loss journey.   

19. A Prayer to Love the Clean Foods God Created

Genesis 1: 28- 31 “God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.”  God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This will be food for you,  for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.  God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.”

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for making all these wonderful healthy foods that my body needs. Thank you for putting the exact perfect nutrients in the foods you made that my body needs to be healthy. Help me remember that you made my body, and you made the food you intended for my body. Give me a passion for the clean foods you created and help me to crave them. 

20. A Prayer for Remembering my Body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says “Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.”

Prayer: God I confess I get so self-focused I only think about my body as my own and use it however I feel like. I so often forget that my body was created by you, for your glory, and is the temple of the Holy Spirit in me. Please bring this truth to my thoughts often so I can treat my body in a way that honors you. Amen. 

Conclusion

Some people might think it’s silly to pray for strength while you lose weight, but it’s inevitable because you will eventually feel weary in your weight loss journey. As a Christian woman, you can utilize these 30 prayers for weight loss to lighten the emotional burden.

Give glory to God as your reach certain milestones and praise Him once you have reached your overall goals. Be an encourager to other women who are also on a weight loss journey and offer them these 30 prayers to help them overcome the negative moments and feelings of doubt.

If you’re ready to take your faith and healthy journey deeper, check out our Healthy Habits Bible Study and 90-Day Journal!

You may also enjoy Daniel Fast Recipes and The Bible Diet.