Prayer Helps
On this page:
- Pray for Yourself
- Pray for Others
- Pray for Churches and Ministries
- Pray for Neighborhoods
- Pray for Cities, States, and Countries
- Pray for the World
Why Pray
The Bible is pretty clear about our need to pray. God's Word commands it: Luke 18:1 and Ephesians 6:18.
When To Pray
We should pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17). The type of prayer that is called for in many of our life situations is in many ways like pushing a heavy load up a hill. Your progress may be slow at times, and you need to stop from time to time in order to rest and renew your strength. The nature of loads on hills however is that when you are not pushing, the load is often slipping backwards down the hill. If you "rest" too long, you may find that that the load has returned to the point at which you started pushing. In fact, it may have even slipped further back than your starting point!
You need to pray often enough so that the burden for which you are praying actually makes it over the "top of the hill" where it won't slip back any more. Of course, by the time you get one burden to the "top of the hill" there is usually another burden at the foot of the next hill to take its place. Nevertheless, it's important that our prayers actually accomplish something. After all, James 5:16-18 assures us that the prayer of a righteous man (or woman) is powerful and effective!
If you truly want to be effective in prayer remember - pray continually! Why not take a few minutes to pray right now? While you're at it, don't forget to pray for our ministry here at Life Church!
How To Pray
As believers, we find that we have to use different types of prayer for different situations. Now matter what type of prayer we are using, our goal should be effectiveness. We should be seeing the things that we are praying for coming to pass.
Worship First!!!
it is always best to begin your times of prayer with worship. Worship happens when we praise God for who he is and thank him for what he has done. You don't need to use religious language - just take an extended period of time to express to God in your own words how you appreciate him. Don't let your worship depend on your feelings either. If you feel like worshipping - go for it! Even if you don't feel like worshipping however, God is still awesome and worthy of our praise and gratitude. Worship him anyway! The following passages are a small sample of what God's Word tells us about worship:
- Worship: Psalm 96:9; Psalm 100:2; John 4:23-24; Heb 12:28
- Praise: Psalm 9:1-2; Psalm 33:1-3; Psalm 150
- Thanksgiving: Psalm 95:1-2; Psalm 100:4; Psalm 147:7; Phil 4:6; 1Tim 2:1
Prayer Patterns
Whether you're creating a new piece of clothing or taking time out to pray, it is helpful to have a pattern to follow. Jesus gave us a pattern when the disciples asked him to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1-4). We will use an expanded version of this prayer pattern:
“This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’" (Matthew 6:3-13)
From this pattern we learn the following:
- Prayer is addressed to the Father.
- We must first acknowledge the Father's holiness. We can do this by worshipping the Father - praising him for who he is, and thanking him for what he has done.
- Our prayer must be for the Father's will to be done on the earth just as it is done in heaven. This means that our prayers should line up with what the Father has already revealed (especially in his word - The Bible).
- We should ask the Father to meet our current needs.
- We should ask the Father to forgive any sin or failure that we are aware of.
- We must forgive others.
If you're a beginner at prayer, the easiest way to start following this pattern is to find a more experienced person to help you. Ask your life group leader to help you find someone to mentor you in this area.
Personal Prayer
We want each of our members to be effective in personal prayer.
- Set a regular time and place for your daily prayer time.
- Start with a small but sustainable prayer time (5 - 15 minutes). You will find that your prayer time will expand as you are faithful in daily prayer.
- Take a Bible, a notebook, and a pen with you during your prayer time. The Bible will help you to base your prayer requests on God's Word, and the notebook will help you keep track of prayer requests and the things that God says to you during prayer.
- Take your time worshipping the Father as you begin your prayer time.
- Take time to listen to the Father before you make your requests.
- Organize your prayer requests - start with your most personal needs (including
spiritual needs of course) and work your way out to the needs of others:
- Pray for yourself
- Pray for the members of your household
- Pray for your family members
- Pray for your prayer partner(s)
- Pray for the members of your life group
- Pray for the people you serve with and for your church
- Pray for people you work with or go to school with
- Pray for your neighborhood, city, county, state
- Pray for your country and for world needs
Prayer Partners
Prayer partnerships are an important prayer technique that we use at Life Church. Within each life group we establish sub-groups of 2 - 3 believers who pray together at least once a week (either in person or over the phone). Opening yourself up to pray with someone else can be a challenge. For this reason we offer you the following guidelines:
- Set up a mutually agreeable time to pray. Do it at your next life group meeting or do it over the phone, but set a time! Note - if you set up a time on the phone, pray before you hang up (even if only for 1 - 2 minutes).
- Plan to start off with a small but sustainable prayer time (5 - 15 minutes). You will find that your prayer time will expand as you are faithful in coming together to pray.
- Be faithful!
- Start with easy, less personal prayer requests (e.g. the pastors, the growth of the ministry of Life Church, the growth of the life group, the needs of other life group members, etc.). It takes time to build the trust necessary to share more personal prayer requests.
- Spend at least twice as much time praying as you spend talking about your prayer requests (or anything else). We need to do some talking to share prayer requests and come to agreement about how to pray, but resist the temptation to turn prayer time into fellowship time.
Intercessory Prayer
Intercessory prayer, or intercession should be a significant part of your prayer life. It takes place when you come to The Father to make requests on behalf of others. You may experience times of intercession in the midst of what would otherwise be an "ordinary" time of prayer:
- You sense a strong urge to focus on a particular prayer need. This urge may begin suddenly or gradually.
- You may not initially know how to pray for this need, but you sense the Holy Spirit guiding your prayers (Rom 8:26-27). This guidance may take the form of prayer in your native language, or in a supernaturally imparted language that you have not learned (i.e. praying in "tongues" - 1Cor 14:14-15).
- You sense that you are fighting against unseen opposition to "get your request through" (e.g. Dan 10:1-14).
- You continue to intercede until the urge to pray for the need leaves.
Prayer Principles
- Begin with worship, praise, and thanksgiving - Psalm 100:2; John 4:23-24; Heb 12:28; Psalm 9:1-2; Psalm 150; Psalm 100:4; Phil 4:6
- Know your standing as a son in God’s Kingdom – Gal 3:22 – 4:7; Col 1:9-14
- Walk in forgiveness – Mat 6:14-15; Mat 18:21-35; Mark 11:25
- Pray in the Spirit – Eph 6:18
- Pray according to God’s will - 1John 5:14-15
- Pray in faith – Mark 11:20-25
- Pray in agreement – Mat 18:18-20
What To Pray
We need to remember that we serve a big God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine (Eph 3:20). Don't limit your self to praying for problem situations to stop being problems. Pray your problem situations into blessings:
- Don't merely pray for unsaved family and friends to accept Jesus - pray for them to become pillars in God's Kingdom.
- When you pray for brothers or sisters who struggle with issues in their lives don't merely pray for the issues to go away - pray for them to come to a level of maturity that will enable them to carry the burdens of others.
- In general, don't just pray for people to grow to the place where you won't have to spend time supporting them. Instead pray for those same people to grow to the place where they will spend their own time supporting others.
Here are some helpful ways to pray for important areas:
Pray for Yourself
- Wisdom and revelation; to know God better; to know the hope to which God has called you; to know his power at work in you - Eph 1:17-23
- Strength through his Spirit in your inner being; for power to grasp the vastness of the love of Christ; to know Christ's love; to be filled with the fullness of God - Eph 3:16-19
- Knowledge of God's will; for spiritual wisdom and understanding; to live a life worthy of the Lord; to please him, bear fruit, and know him better; for endurance and patience - Col 1:9-12
- Effectiveness in making disciples - Mat 28:18-20
- Faithfulness in your covenant relationships
- Protection from the enemy
Pray for Others
- Salvation - 1Tim 2:1-4; 2Pet 3:9
- for all of the items above that you pray for for yourself
Pray for Churches and Ministries
- for pastors and ministry leaders as individuals
- for clear revelation from God
- for agreement among leaders
- for protection from the enemy
- for effectiveness in evangelism, discipleship, and fellowship
Pray for Neighborhoods
- for peace and safety for your neighbors - 1Tim 2:1-4
- for your effectiveness in expanding God's Kingdom in your neighborhood
- for God to send more laborers to reach your neighborhood
- for neighborhood issues (e.g. drug houses, local gangs, local prostitution, etc.)
- for public safety officials (e.g. police, fire-fighters, emergency medical technicians) - that they will operate with integrity and effectiveness
- for key social services (e.g. health centers, hospitals, schools, community centers, courts)
Pray for Cities, States, Countries
Leaders by name:
- executive leaders (mayors, governors, presidents, etc.)
- legislative leaders (city councilors, selectment, state representatives, state senators, members of congress)
- judges
For all of these leaders we should pray as follows:
- for their salvation
- for them to be surrounded by godly advisors
- for their health and wellbeing
- for their integrity
- for them to promote policies that enhance the wellbeing of the poor and oppressed
- for them to uphold justice
For the churches and ministries within the city, state, or country for which you are praying (pray for specific churches and ministries).
For God the raise up men and women of God to do the work of his Kingdom within the city, state, or country for which you are praying.
Pray for the World
Foreign missions work.
Specific countries that God lays on your heart.
Global organizations that affect the lives of many.
- United Nations
- World Bank
- International Monetary Fund
Remember to pray for specific needs of specific targets. Allow the Father to give you a burden for a specific global need.
Now that you've read our prayer guidelines why not take a few minutes to put them into practice by praying right now? While you're at it, don't forget to pray for our ministry here at Life Church!