As a pastor, many people come to me asking for prayer. This is encouraging! But I notice quite frequently that the request is general with no specifics–just “pray for me.” My first question is how? Is there some specific problem, i.e. financial, health, relationship etc. I dig and I poke to get more information and generally it concerns one of the above matters. Occasionally, someone is battling with a spiritual matter that is not easily articulated. How should I pray for them? Or better yet, if someone comes to you with a spiritual concern how should you pray for them?
If you ever wondered how you can pray more effectively for the people then consider Paul ’s series of prayers listed in the N.T. in which he mentions point by point how he prayed for the churches (groups of believers) regarding their spiritual health. Philippians 1:9-11 is one such example of how he prayed for the church at Philippi.
1) That their love would abound yet more and more in all wisdom and discernment
2) That they would approve things that are excellent
3) That they would be sincere and without offense until the day of Christ
4) That they would be filled with the fruits of righteousness which are in Christ unto the praise and glory of God
This prayer may seem archaic and somewhat foreign at first glance, however a closer look at this prayer shows that it provides us with an outline of how to more effectively pray for others. In other words, the Lord has designed prayer to accomplish a purpose and unless we pray correctly (James 4-5), we will never see the power that is present through prayer.
What we pray for determines how closely we understand God and His will for our lives. Take time to read through this prayer again and consider what James says in his book regarding prayer especially in chapters 4 & 5. I am convinced that there is power through prayer, but only prayer that is powerful.
October 27th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
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