Praying for Others

Praying for others can be hard sometimes, especially if I’m not sure what to pray. Some days I feel like my prayers are bouncing off the walls. But God said His word is mighty and sharper than any two-edged sword. So why not use His scripture to help?

 He says the prayers of a righteous person avail much. (Now I don’t necessarily feel righteous, but God declares his people forgiven and righteous, so I’ll take Him at His word.)

So then I go to Ephesians 3:14-19 where Paul is praying for the Ephesian people. I insert the name of the person I’m praying for in place of the word you. Let’s say I’m praying for my husband, Joe. It would go like this:

I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen Joe with power through His Spirit in his inner being, so that Christ may dwell in Joe’s heart through faith. And I pray that Joe, 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 Joe may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Amen.

Now that’s an effective prayer that avails much. Try it.