If you are like me, you have a list of people that you regularly pray for. They might be close family members or friends – people you care about. The Bible encourages us to pray for one another and we all know it’s important. But if you are like me, it is often hard to pray something more in depth than “Dear God, please bless so and so.”
Every so often, I get stuck in my prayers. Praying “bless them” just isn’t good enough. When that happens, I go back to the Bible for a lesson on how to pray for the people I love. So here are three things I picked up this week:
Pray they would know the love of Jesus – “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:16-19)
Pray that they would be filled – “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)
Pray that they would have discernment – “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:9-11)
Praying for each other is one of the greatest gifts we can give. Don’t pray vague and repetitive prayers, but look to Scripture for models of how to pray better. Not only will this bring a new freshness to your prayer life, but everyone you are praying for will be enriched as well.
