Praying for fellow believers is an important priority that we must do daily, but how should we pray.  This is an area where the Lord has given me some conviction for a while now and as a result I pray differently than in years past.

We tend to pray for circumstances of people rather than people themselves.  This is important, but we should never lose site of the fact that circumstances are temporary.  Though God will use those circumstances to teach us, discipline us, edify us, sanctify us, reward us or allow us to be a blessing to someone else, our prayers should not be only circumstantial.  In addition to those prayers, we should also be praying for our spiritual growth that has eternal value.

In Colossians 1, Paul describes a prayer for the church asking that “they be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience, joyously giving thanks to the Father…”  These three verses are so packed with guidance on how we should be praying and there are many examples throughout the Bible on how we should pray.

Below are some examples of the types of prayer that I have taken from scripture when I pray for the believers that God has placed in my heart:

– Lord, please always cause him/her to be mindful of your presence and to walk in a manner worthy of your calling that they would not spoil their testimony of You; Lord please keep us pure, with the strength to flee temptation, knowing that if we resist the enemy, he will flee from us.

– Lord, please reveal Your will to him/her in that they would know it and act in obedience to Your calling; Lord please draw us near that as we walk with You, we move forward with confidence that the desires of our hearts are Your desires for us

– Lord, I ask that the peace of Christ would rule in his/her heart so that the circumstances of the world would not weigh them down, but through them learn to depend on You and put trust in You and Your holy purpose.

– Lord, I pray that him/her would be free from anxiety and learn to cast all their cares upon You, the Author and Finisher of our faith, Lord that fear and confusion would have no place in the hearts and minds of him/her, but perfect dependence on You.

– Lord, I pray that he/she would be sensitive to Your Spirits leading and that we would learn to wait patiently for Your perfect timing, with or without understanding, that we would have complete trust in Your process and stay the course without compromise.

– Lord, I pray that she/he would make You a priority today, to pray, to read Your word, to listen and to continue to grow to become the woman You have called her to be; Lord I ask for ongoing conversation with You and to seek Your guidance in every situation.

– Lord, I ask that we would be people whose heart is broken by the things that break Your heart, that would truly live out Matthew 25:31-40 and live out the gospel to be blessed by a spirit of giving; to experience why obedience is better than sacrifice, Lord show us how to love those left behind in the world

– Lord, I ask that we would depend on Your Spirit to speak through us as we encounter those who don’t yet know you. Lord give us confidence to speak the truth in love and Lord I pray that our speech would always be filled with grace, as if seasoned with salt to be a blessing to those who hear.

– Lord, I pray that through Your word, we would rightly divide the word of truth, proclaim sound in doctrine, Your word planted deep in our hearts that we would be wise to discern truth and expose the false doctrine of the enemy designed to lead people astray; Lord may we always contend earnestly for the truth.

– Lord, I pray that he/she would be humble and maintain a spirit of humility, careful to give You all the glory as You allow us to share in the work of redemption; Lord, let us be free from pride, purified by the Refiner’s fire as a vessel of mercy seeking to share our inheritance; Lord I ask that those who would believe will see our good works and glorify You.

Over time, and as I learn more scripture, prayer has become more conversational with God.  I have a  core group of fellow believers I pray for daily, but it is not uncommon for the Lord to put someone on my heart to pray for during the day in completely random settings.  Sometimes I have an idea of what they need and other times I draw from scripture like the examples above.  I pray that this post will be a blessing to someone who will pray with power and agonize in prayer that we would all be faithful servants.