How To Pray For My Church

As Christians, we are to love our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. If we are born of God and have come to know God, we pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ in the church. Part of loving them is always praying for them and remembering them in our prayers. If they are going through tough or good times, we are to pray with them, intercede for them, and rejoice with them. However, aside from praying for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ individually, we also pray for our church. That means praying not just for individuals in the church but the group of individuals itself, which is the church. The Bible commands us in 1 Timothy 2:1-2 that prayers, intercessions, and supplications must be made for all people, meaning we are to pray not just for our classmates, workmates, friends, family, and the government, but also for our church. 

And in the New Testaments, the Scripture tells us to pray for the Lord’s people, which is the church. One of the best examples that we have is the apostle Paul. In Ephesians 1:15-17, Paul prayed a prayer of thanksgiving to God regarding the Ephesian church, knowing their faith in Christ and how they didn’t stop loving people. Paul also mentioned that he prayed for the Ephesian church to know God better. In Ephesians 6:18-20, Paul wrote about not just praying to God for him as he did the Lord’s work of being a minister, but also making supplication for all the saints—the church. Another example is from Colossians 1:9 when the apostle Paul was telling the church in Colossae how they never ceased to pray for them—praying that God may fill them with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. As Christians in the church, we are all united in one body, for which our head is Christ. Knowing that we belong to one body, Christians need to pray for the church, with which they are connected as one body.

Ephesians 1:15-17

15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,

16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;

17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:

Ephesians 6:18-20

18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,

20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Colossians 1:9

For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

1 Corinthians 12:26-27

26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

How do I pray for my church?

There are many things that you can pray for in your church. One of the things you can do is look at your church and see its needs. Maybe it is lacking full-time ministers. With that, you can pray for God to bring someone into the church or cause someone to rise and answer the call of being a full-time minister. You can also pray that whoever that person may be, he shall be a person who is qualified in his position as prescribed by the Scriptures and that he is living a life beyond reproach. It could also be that you have a church project. You may be building your church building, and you need funds for it, which means you can pray for provisions for the church project and that more people in the church community will take part in the project and bless it financially. 

Other things are more important to pray for your church. For example, praying that everyone in the church, starting from the pastor, shall always rightly handle the Word of God with reverence before God. That means that the church shall always be faithful to the Scriptures with a sound biblical understanding and submit to what the Scriptures teach, even if it is hard to swallow. Indeed, that is more important to pray for compared to a provision for a church project. Pray that your church shall never embrace false teachings like Prosperity Gospel. The dangers of false teachings are something that Paul mentioned and warned Timothy about in his letter. False teachings are instructions that are made to be suited to what people want to hear. That is why praying for the church – that it always rightly handles the word of truth with fear and reverence before God – is very important.

2 Timothy 2:15

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

2 Timothy 4:3

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

Father in heaven, it is only Your grace and mercy alone that preserves us. I pray for my church, that it shall always be faithful to the Scriptures and that it shall always rightly handle Your word of truth. I pray that its members shall not settle for a shallow understanding of Your Word and the things of You, but that they shall pursue a deep study of Your Word and have a sound biblical understanding of it. Give us the grace to be humble with what the truth of Your Word says, even if it is hard to swallow, and so that no one will twist the meaning and proper understanding of Your word to suit their passions. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Another important thing that you can pray for in your church is unity. The church is on the offensive against satan and his forces. Therefore, to sabotage the church’s advances against him, one of the things that he does is cause churches to fight amongst themselves and stir up division. That is why a divisive spirit is not from God but from the enemy.

Ephesians 4:1-6

1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,

2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;

3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

1 Corinthians 1:10

Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

1 Corinthians 12:27

Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

Son of God, all things are created through You, and in You, all things hold together. I pray for my church, that no matter what conflicts and tensions may happen, its people shall always fight for unity as a church. May they always stand united among their differences, knowing that they are all indeed different but part of one body that is in Christ. May they always strive to love another just as You commanded us. In Your name, I pray. Amen.

Lastly, you should always pray that your church shall always seek God and that they shall always revere Him and regard His holiness. Nothing is more dangerous than a church that does not revere God and forgets His holiness. The word of truth is mishandled, unity is not pursued, sin is tolerated, and more—all because the church has no regard for God’s holiness anymore. Always pray for your church to delight in the fear of the LORD. Also, pray that its members shall always live with reverence for God’s holiness. 

Isaiah 6:1-13

1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,

12 And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.

Psalm 89:7

God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.

Proverbs 16:6

By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.

1 Peter 1:15-16

15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Almighty God, holy, holy, holy, are You LORD, Who sits above the throne. I pray for my church, that it shall continue to delight in the fear of the LORD. I pray that its members shall always turn away from anything that is evil and an abomination in Your eyes. I pray that they shall love the things that You love and hate the things that You hate. I pray that they shall always live their lives with reverence to Your holiness and that they shall be holy, for You are holy. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Praying for your church is something you should do always, not just once a week or once a month. It is good that you are praying for your brothers and sisters in Christ, but you should also pray for your church community as a whole. Pray without ceasing for your church and always make supplications for all the saints.