A Good Prayer For Your Classmate

As believers on the campus, whether in basic, tertiary, graduate, or post-graduate study, we are called by God to be the salt and light to the world. One of the ways we become the salt and light for others is by blessing them, and we can do that by praying for our classmates. We pray for whatever concern or care they may have and also seek their well-being in prayers.

Father in heaven, help me to be the salt and light toward my classmates by having the heart and compassion to pray for them. Use my prayers to minister to them. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

What Can You Pray for Your Classmate?

Before we get into what we can request in prayer for our classmates, knowing what the Bible says about us being the salt and light of the world is helpful. When the Bible was written, salt was used to preserve food. Similarly to how we use salt in our cooking, people would also use salt to make food taste better in those times. 

Given that, when we say we are to be the salt to the world, it means we are to preserve that which is good and make things better wherever God has placed us. Likewise, when we say we are the light of the world, that means we are here to point people to the ultimate light of the world, which is Christ (Matthew 5:13-16). 

To be the salt to the world, start by praying for your classmate’s well-being. If your classmate is currently struggling financially, pray for God’s grace upon them and for Him to provide for whatever they need. If your classmate, for some reason, is emotionally struggling or is experiencing something painful, then pray for their emotional well-being and emotional wholeness.

In other words, pray for whatever concern or care they have. Also, even if they don’t necessarily want a prayer (perhaps a classmate currently has friends who influence him to do bad things), you—a Bible-believing Christian who knows what is good, acceptable, and pleasing to God through the Scriptures—know what is good for the well-being of your classmate (Romans 12:1-2). Therefore, you can pray for them. As a result of your prayer, a classmate with friends who are a bad influence may end up finding Christian friends and become a disciple. Of course, with such sensitive prayer, it is important to exercise wisdom and consider whether you should pray in their presence or pray for your classmate alone.

Most importantly, to be the light to the world, pray for your classmate to come to the saving knowledge of Christ. In your moments of solitude, you can pray for them to be saved. Pray that the Holy Spirit will, in their hearts, turn them from hearts of stone to hearts of flesh and open their spiritual eyes. Then, they can believe and trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross, repent, and follow Him (Ezekiel 36:26; John 9:25). The most important prayer you can say regards their salvation, and even as you pray for them face-to-face for their well-being, you can include tidbits of the Gospel.

Heavenly Father, more than my classmate’s physical, emotional, and mental well-being, I pray for his spiritual well-being. May You open his eyes to the truth of the Gospel and see his need for Christ. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

How Can You Pray for Your Classmate?

You can seek the well-being of your classmates in your prayer time with God. Pray for their concerns and cares based on what you know about them, and also pray for their salvation. You can approach them and ask if you can pray for them. Most of the time, a person won’t turn down a prayer because, in their perspective, someone is simply blessing them, and there is nothing for them to lose anyway.

As you pray, ask for God’s common grace and mercy upon them. In Matthew 5:45-47, it is written that God makes the sun shine on both the just and the unjust. In other words, you can pray for the kind of grace that God gives to those who are not yet in Christ. After all, the most important prayer you can say is for them to be in Christ.

Heavenly Father, I pray for my classmate who is struggling with our capstone project. I pray that You will be gracious to him and give him the wisdom he needs. I also pray for good health and that no sickness will come upon him as we do this project. Most of all, we thank You for the greatest grace You gave us, Your Son Jesus, in whom we can find forgiveness and eternal life as long as we believe He paid for our sins. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

The Bible also commands us to love our neighbor (Mark 12:31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.”). Part of loving our neighbor is loving our classmate. Hence, one of the ways we show love to them, apart from serving them, is by praying for them. However, as mentioned before, one of the important and loving things we can do for them is preach the Gospel, which is God’s greatest mercy to mankind.