I shared this in an Instagram post recently, but it’s been impacting me so much I wanted to put it into a short blog post for you! Just wanted to share a few quick thoughts on why your prayers for other people matter and how to make praying for others a part of your life.
Our Prayers Make A Difference
“…The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results…” (James 5:16-18)
As Christians, we are each called to be a person of prayer for others. As the Church, prayer for others should be a priority when we gather together as well. Prayer is a big deal to God and it’s a major part of our faith.
What we see in Scripture is that our prayers really do make an impact. God works in the world and in our lives through the prayers of His people–your prayers included. Through prayer, God allows us to partner with Him and step into a place of godly influence in others’ lives and in His purposes. Through prayer, God changes outcomes and shifts circumstances. Through prayer, God speaks encouragement, guidance, and direction to our hearts. (Luke 11:5-13 // Luke 18:1-8 // Philippians 1:19)
Through prayer, God allows us to partner with Him and step into a place of godly influence in others' lives and in His purposes.Click To TweetHow to Practically Pray for Others
“I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:1-4)
1 Timothy 2:1-4 is a life passage for me because the truths in God’s Word about the power of prayer have changed my life. A few weeks ago I watched a message by Louie Giglio from Passion City Church about being an influence in the lives of others. As he talked about the role of prayer, God started helping me to see the Timothy passage in a new way. I noticed some “steps,” if you will, giving us a practical model to follow that can help us live out this exhortation to pray for others.
As you pray for people, think about these three themes and let them shape your prayers.
1. Give thanks for them.
For what can you offer thanks to God about that person and/or about His work in their life?
What aspects of their personality or character can you acknowledge and celebrate before God? What’s a recent testimony of something God’s done in their life or how he’s been growing their faith lately that you can thank Him for?
2. Ask God to help them.
What’s going on in their life where they could use God’s help?
Are they facing a health or financial challenge? A relational conflict? Are they stepping into a new season of life or weighing an important decision? Bring that situation before God and ask Him to be at work in those areas of that person’s life.
3. Pray for their relationship with God.
If the person is not a Christian, pray that they would come to know Jesus. If the person is a Christian, pray for their spiritual growth.
Ask Jesus to reveal Himself to them and open their hearts to His message. Ask that His Spirit would convict their hearts of their need for Jesus and work in them to bring them to a place of saving faith in Jesus.
For believers, you can pray that they would get to know God better, that they would grow in righteous character, and that they would have strength to endure in faith.
You can pray this way for friends, family members, co-workers/classmates, government leaders, cultural influencers, etc. You don’t even have to know someone personally to pray for them!
Use the biblical prayers, language from your own heart, and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in what to pray. Here are a few good biblical prayers to start with.
Check out the blog post How to Get Better at Prayer to learn more about how you can make a prayer list to help you pray consistently for different people and needs, and how you can use Scripture to help you know what to pray for others.
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Exclusive Content: To access a list of the New Testament prayers and some topics you can use them to pray for, and for a more detailed outline of how to create a prayer list, head to the Free Resource Library and download, How To Pray The New Testament Prayers and How To Make A Prayer List.
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Encourage Others With Prayer
It’s great practice, if you’re able, to pray for someone in person, right in the moment when they ask for prayer. There’s something so encouraging about having a brother or sister in faith come alongside you in person and getting to hear that bring person bring you before God in prayer. There will be plenty of times, though, when you’re praying for others during your personal time with God and the other person is not present.
Here’s something I noticed in those biblical prayers I mentioned earlier–the prayers the apostles’ prayed for the early Christians in the Bible. They not only told the believers that they were praying for them, they told the believers exactly what they were praying for them. You will encourage people if you tell them not only that you ARE praying for them, but also WHAT you are praying for them.
You will encourage people if you tell them not only that you ARE praying for them, but also WHAT you are praying for them.Click To Tweet
If you’re going to spend time praying for someone, why not take it a step further and let them know that you spent time praying for them, a few of the specific things you prayed and send them a relevant Bible verse to encourage them. You could send them a text, call them, write them an encouraging note or mention it to them in person when you see them during the week. Those texts, notes and quick comments from friends have meant so much to me and they’ve told me how much it’s meant to them when I’ve done the same.
Try to make it a part of your daily practice that you spend time praying for others–choose a few people you know personally and a few people you don’t. You never know what God can do in someone’s life through your prayers for them.
Check out the message from Pastor Louie below:
Your Turn: Pick 2-3 people you can intentionally pray for this week. Write their names down in your Bible, journal or phone and spend a few minutes each day this week praying for them. Discuss this post in the comments below.
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