A survey run a couple of years ago suggests Christians spend more time praying about their family and friends than for any other prayer topic. Yet knowing what to pray and how to pray for them is not always easy. Firstly, we shouldn't worry about how we phrase our
prayers. It can be easy to feel that our prayers need to be word-perfect, and phrased in
that quaint Olde English found in the King James Bible and the old Prayer Books. God wants
us to talk to him in ordinary, everyday conversational language, and we can lift our
prayers to him without worrying about our grammar or getting the right phrases. Our approach to prayer is more important than
the words we use. Initially we may begin praying by bringing a "shopping list"
of requests to God. In one sense, this is helpful - generally it is good to be as
specific as we can be. Although God knows the finest detail of every situation, we should
nevertheless ask God for specific things. What those things are requires some careful
thought. Our aim should be to pray for what God wants for them, and the things that
they desire for themselves, rather than for what we would like them to have, or to be.
This means that it can be quite helpful to give some space to God during our prayer
time, and ask Him to place on our mind the particular needs of the people we are praying
for. The Gospels tell us that when we ask for
things in Jesus' name then the Father will grant us our request. "In Jesus'
name" means things that are in accordance with God's will and character - we can pray
as hard as we like to win the lottery, but I judge our prayer is unlikely to lead us to
riches! Perceiving more and more of God's character and nature will help us pray the
things that are on God's agenda, and away from the shopping list of requests that we may
have started with. |
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| It is fine to pray for our basic
needs, and Jesus teaches us in the Lord's Prayer to ask the Father for our daily bread, or
to satisfy our daily needs. It is probably unhelpful to pray for material desires to be
satisfied. Rather our prayer might focus on the character of the person that we are
praying for, asking God to make them more like him, that they might grow in the fruit of
the spirit : love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, generosity, faithfulness
and self-control. As we pray it can be helpful to have a picture of the person we are praying for in our minds. If your imagination finds it difficult to picture people you pray for, why not build up a photo album of people you pray for, and use this as a prompt to prayer. |
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| Pointers for Prayer : Doing the ironing is a chore for most of us! Why not take the opportunity to use this as time for prayer? As you iron each item, pray for the person whose garment it is, praying for them in the situations where they would wear it e.g. school uniform, work shirts, football clothes, etc. | |
All material is copyright to The Teal Trust, 2002, but may be reproduced
with permission for non-profit use.
