How To Pray For Your Friends In Church

As believers, praying for ourselves and others, especially our brothers and sisters in the faith, makes up an important part of our Christian lives. Praying for others also includes our friends in church. Praying for them is one of the most loving things we can do. After all, we will be talking to God about them and even remembering their well-being in our solitude.

Father in heaven, remind me to always remember my friends in prayers, seek their well-being, and pray for them out of love. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Why Pray for Your Friends in Church?

We pray for our friends in the church because, first, Jesus commanded us to love one another in John 13:34-35. However, it is interesting that the passage didn’t simply tell us to love another, and that’s just it. Jesus said we are to love one another just as He has loved us. In other words, we are to love our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, including our friends. Christ loved us with an agape kind of love, which is a sacrificial and selfless love that seeks the well-being of others. One of the ways we show selflessness is not just praying for our needs and well-being but also the well-being of others. We can see it in John 17 when Jesus prayed for us in His priestly prayer. He continued to pray for us even as He was seated in the right hand of God in heaven. Also, we are to love one another because this is how the world will know we are His disciples.

This commandment from Jesus forms the foundation of why we pray for our friends in church because it is one of the many ways we put our love into action. We don’t just pray for their well-being. We also weep with them if they are in a season of loss or grieving and rejoice with them in prayers of thanksgiving to God if they are rejoicing (Romans 12:15). We are to carry their burden if they have any, pray to God about it as if it is also our burden, and lift our prayer requests to Him (Philippians 4:6-7). We are also to pray that things may go well with our friends in the church, whether they need healing, financial provision for a business, or wisdom for an exam (3 John 1:2).

Heavenly Father, I pray that everything I do, even the prayers I say for my friends in the church, shall be done just as the apostle Paul said. May the love that You have shown me always motivate me to love You, which would also mean loving others. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

How Can You Pray for Your Friends in Church?

You can pray for your church by lifting to God the prayers you have for them, as written in Philippians 4:6-7. When you pray for them, you seek their well-being. Remember as your guiding principle that there are several ways to pray for their well-being, depending on who the person is. If your friend is sick and needs healing, praying for their well-being means asking for good health and healing. If your friend is in sin, you can pray for grace upon them so they can repent and return to God. The principle is seeking their well-being. What defines well-being is the Bible. That is why we need to renew our minds with God’s Word. Then we may pray for our friends in church for that which is good, acceptable, and pleasing to God (Romans 12:2).

Heavenly Father, I pray for my friend, who is currently going through difficulties. Give him the grace he needs to face each day and the strength to keep persevering through life. Continue to work in his life, Holy Spirit, that he may grow in spiritual maturity, wisdom, and stature. Provide for his needs, and protect him from any sickness and danger. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Praying for your church friends is one gesture they will welcome and appreciate. You can either approach them when you see each other in church, message them that you just prayed for them, or pray for them on your own as you spend time with God. Remember to also be sensitive to what the Holy Spirit may be impressing on you to pray for your friends in church.