Pray for God's People
As we pray for God’s people, let us also ask God to give us a committed, compassionate heart, like He gave the Apostle Paul, to pray for God’s people wherever they are. When God gave us Paul, He gave us a great example to follow when praying.
The Apostle Paul was used mightily by God to start churches throughout the Roman world, and those churches were constantly in his prayers. As we read his letters, we see that each church faced various challenges and trials, and nothing has changed today. Our churches are just as much in need of prayer as were the churches in Paul’s day. We need to pray for one another.
Paul’s prayers on behalf of the churches demonstrated how deeply he cared for God’s people. His prayers for them reflected his tireless, sacrificial love. May we demonstrate the same love for each other as we pray for God’s people.
The following list of prayers was taken from an article by Hal Seed, Pastor of New Song Community Church in Oceanside, California, and was published in March 2016 at www. pastormentor.com/pray-like-paul-yourchurch/.
If you will use these prayers listed here as a guide to pray for God’s people, then, like Paul, you will be praying with great faith and great confidence in a great God who answers prayer!
Pray for Abounding Love — Philippians 1:9-11 “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”
Pray for the Spirit of Wisdom — Ephesians 1:15-19 “For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might.”
Pray for Inner Spiritual Strength — Ephesians 3:14-21 “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith — that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
Pray for Fruit in Every Good Work — Colossians 1:9-12 “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.”
Pray for Righteousness — 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 “To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Pray for the Salvation of Others — 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 “Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.”
Pray for Boldness to Proclaim the Gospel — Ephesians 6:19 “and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”
— Mike Bishop,
Harvest Church at Anthem in Florence
PPreface
Pray for Our Pastors
Pray for God’s People
Pray for God’s Providence
Pray for the Perishing
