Praying for Others

“Praying for another person is like touching God with one hand and touching the person with the other," explains Jim Cymbala in his book When God's People Pray.

While reading through this book with my small group, I came to realize how often I stop short at asking God to provide for the physical needs of others rather than delving deeper into requests for their spiritual needs.

As I began searching through examples of prayer in Scripture, I discovered what rich content is described to us there and how praying this way for others could take my prayer life to a deeper level. Inspired, I began compiling a list of intercessory prayer requests made by these first century believers.

They prayed for their loved ones to:

• Receive the Holy Spirit – Acts 8:14-15
• Be delivered from unbelievers who oppose Truth – Rom 15:31
• Have acceptable service to God– Rom 15:31
• Receive the Spirit of wisdom and revelation – Eph 1:17-19
• Know and experience Him – Eph 1:17-10
• Know the Hope to which He’s called us – Eph 1:17-19
• Know their inheritance – Eph 1:17-19
• Know His power (the same power which raised Christ from the dead) – Eph 1:17-19
• Have strength through His Spirit – Eph 3:16-19
• Be rooted and grounded in love – Eph 3:16-19
• Understand “how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that [they] may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” – Eph 3:16-19
• Have Christ dwell in their hearts through faith – Eph 3:16-19
• Have boldness in evangelism – 2 Thess 1:11
• Be worthy of His calling – Eph 3:16-19
• Practice effective evangelism – Philemon 1:6
• Be guarded from the Evil One – John 17:15
• Be sanctified through God's Truth/ Word – John 17:17
• Experience unity with other Believers – John 17:20-21
• Have a deepened knowledge and experience of God – John 17:3,25-26
• Experience God’s love and that God Himself may be in them – John 17:26
• Have a faith which doesn't fail – Lk 22:31-32

If you’ve been praying for a family member or someone else you love, don’t give up!  It is my hope that these verses will give you ideas for how you can continue to reach out to God for them.

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Ephesians 3:20-21