Pray for Others

“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 

For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 

Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:1-4

ln this passage, Paul was writing that he wanted the churches to pray for everyone. Your brother, neighbor, leaders and rulers, the family in the next town- everyone. Friends and enemies. Believers and unbelievers.

Pray for your enemies, pray that the Lord would show them the goodness of His mercy and that they would come to the Light. God wants all people to be saved. They might be fighting against God right now, and resisting the truth, but someday they could repent and turn to Christ, so pray that they would accept Jesus into their life and become believers.

“Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.” Luke 6:28

At one point in our life we were all lost without Christ. Now that we know Christ and what He has done for us we should pray that others would come to know Him too.

Many times in the New Testament, the apostles wrote to pray for them, and that they were praying for the church. They prayed that the church would continue in the truth of the gospel. They wanted them to continue to grow in the word of God and that they would strive to be perfect.

Pray that the Lord would give the leaders in your country wisdom to do what is right. We are not wise on our own. True wisdom comes from God, and for leaders of a country to do what is right, they need that wisdom. 

Pray for others when they are sick. It is nothing for the Lord to heal those who are sick and in pain, all you need to do is have the faith to come and ask. The centurian came to Jesus to ask Him to heal his servant of his sickness. His love for his servant caused him to go and ask Jesus to help him. James wrote that when somene was sick that they should come to the elders of the church to be prayed over and annointed with oil to be healed. Pray for those who are sick.

Pray for others if they have a problem with temptations or sins. To overcome sin we need to rely on Christ to help us to become better. In the church you might have a person who is starting to begin their walk but are having problems overcoming certain issues in their life. Someone may have had an issue with alcholism before they became a Christian, and now and then they feel tempted to go back into that. They need to be prayed for that they would overcome that urge to overindulge a fall back into sin. 

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16

Prayer is a powerful thing. Pray for others. 

In Christ,

Andrew