How To Pray For Other Believers

Sometimes I think we're so overwhelmed when we look at our prayer list that we just wing it. This person is having surgery and is also concerned about how to pay for it. Someone else has children who have strayed, but they're also making some life decisions of their own. Even if we only have a few people on our prayer list, this can be a daunting task. So we just say a couple of lines like "Please touch all my loved ones today, Lord. Give them what they need in each situation."

This may seem like an easy way to take care of your prayer time, but it's definitely not what God intended. We've probably all done it because we're so short on time that praying for specifics for everyone we know would be too much of a sacrifice.

When Paul wrote his letter to the Colossians, he told them exactly how he was praying for them. It wasn't a glossy little verse that asked God for some vague blessings - it was a heart-felt message of how he spoke directly to the Lord about the people he loved so much.

For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness. Colossians 1:9-11

When we're praying for other believers, this is a great model of prayer. Paul outlines the truly important things that a Christian needs to live a victorious life. These are the things we need to praying for our friends and family, not rushing through to get to something else.

* That they be filled with the knowledge of God's will.
* For wisdom and spiritual understanding.
* That their walk will please God.
* That their works will be fruitful.
* For a longing to know God more.
* That they will be strengthened with the strength of the Lord.
* For patience.
* For joy.

This seems very basic and very simple, but these are powerful requests that only a powerful God can fulfill. These prayers cover all of the individual situations and build them up to handle whatever they're going through right now. It's amazing how individual and yet how all-encompassing they are at the same time.

Instead of tossing out a few requests and moving on, let's use that power to touch other believers' lives with our requests. Ask, and then see the miracles God has planned.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Holland Creme - That Amazing White Stuff In Donuts

Image
I remember going to the grocery store every Saturday morning when I was growing up, and my favorite place in the entire store was the donut case. All the glazed, powdered and filled baked goods drew me like a magnet. My favorites, far and away, were the ones filled with that beautiful white, fluffy creme. At the time I didn't know it was called Holland Creme - I just knew it was the most amazing concoction ever. Ever. Here is my version of this sweet treat. You can make your own fried donuts and fill them, or like I did here, you can cut a crevice into store-bought donuts with a knife and fill them with creme in a piping bag. Either way, you're going to love it. Ingredients: 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup water 1 cup vegetable oil 1 cup shortening 1 cup butter 1 Tbsp vanilla 7 cups powdered sugar 1. Make a simple syrup by combining sugar and water in a sauce pan over medium heat until boiling, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool complet
Read more

Recovering An Old Card Table And Making It Usable Again

Image
This card table recover project has been on my to-do list for months. I've been using it as my workspace in the craft room for quite some time, and it sees a lot of abuse. Here it is now, with a neutral cover on it so I can take better pictures for my tutorials. There were dents and dings in the old blue covering from metal tools. And yes, I've used my embossing heat tool on it several times, leaving pretty good scars. The padding underneath the blue cover also made it difficult to keep paper crafts flat when adhering them together, so it was time for something new. That's where a simple vinyl tablecloth comes in handy. The process to recover the table is pretty simple, but I learned a couple of lessons the hard way. I share them with you now. First, don't do this on any surface but a carpet. I tried it on the deck int he sunshine to get better pictures, but all it did was tear up the cover. Second, get a second pair of hands to help you kee
Read more

Crafts For Teen Girls To Make

Image
In our teen girls Bible study, we're studying our way through the Proverbs 31 woman and it's been such a blessing to me, as I hope it's been to them. Every month we spend an afternoon or an evening together studying Scripture, making something amazing in the kitchen and creating something that corresponds to the verse we're in. Choosing the crafts each time can be a challenge for several reasons. It needs to be something they can completely finish (or do most of) because once they leave they're probably not going to work on it themselves - that's just the nature of teenagers. Remember? It also needs to be a project that keeps they're attention, is age-appropriate and is cool enough that they'll want to keep it or give it to someone special. But hey, no pressure on the Bible study leader, right? Here are just a few of the projects we've done together in the year we've been meeting. * This month's craft will be the adorable cross stit
Read more