How To Ask Others To Pray For You

There is no such thing as “lone Christianity”. A Christian can never survive in his or her spiritual walk alone, not because God’s grace is absent, but because church community is essential in one’s walk with God. God designed us, humans, as social beings. Regardless of one’s personality, we are designed to connect with other people. Christians grow to be a part of and committed to a church community. It is where we get sanctified from the corrections and rebukes that our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ give us. We also get to grow more in the knowledge of God and His things through the theology that our church ministers teach us. It is also in the church community that we get encouragement from the exhortations of others. That is why the church community is one of the means of grace that God has instituted. It is one of the means, aside from reading the Bible and praying, by which we receive grace from God. That is why whenever we go through hardships, our fellow believers’ encouragement can help us get past them. It also aids us in our sanctification through the corrections we receive from other believers. Whenever we need counsel, we are sure that whatever advice or counsel that our fellow brothers or sisters in Christ give us is godly counsel. We see that it is extremely difficult to live a Christian life without a church community. Such isolation means having no like-minded believers correcting you according to the Word of God, no believers encouraging you through tough times, understanding your problems as a Christian, weeping and rejoicing with you, and so much more.

Fellowship with fellow believers is emphasized in the New Testament. It is something to which they devoted themselves. Being connected to a church community is essential for us, as it means having people who can pray for us. Only in a biblical church community can we find believers who will take our burden on as though it is theirs and pray for us. They weep with us whenever we have problems and include us in their prayers. It is not only our Christian friends in church who pray for you, but also the church community itself. You know that you are not alone, no matter what you are going through, and that there is a whole lot of people, an entire church community, praying with you and for you.

Proverbs 27:17

Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.

10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.

11 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?

12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Acts 2:42

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

1 Thessalonians 5:11

Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

Hebrews 10:24-25

24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

How do I ask my friend for prayer?

You can always ask your friends to pray for you and whatever concerns you may have. If your friend is indeed a genuine Christian and a genuine friend, your friend will be happy to pray for you. The Bible tells us that a friend loves us at all times, and a brother is born out of adversity. That means that even if you are going through tough times, a genuine friend shall always be there for you, not just to encourage and correct you, but also to pray for you. A friend carries your problems or burdens as though they were their own. They also pray for it, as if it is also their problem or burden. It is important to note that such friends can only be found in the church. That is why you must be connected to a church community, because only in the church can you find godly friends who will continue praying for you. If you have an “accountability partner,” then they are expected to pray for you. An “accountability partner” is your brother in Christ (sister for the women) to whom you open your life and are accountable for everything you do. It is something that you don’t necessarily do with all of your Christian friends. What it means is that if you have sinned, your accountability partner knows it, corrects you, and speaks the truth to you in love. If they know everything about your life, they are indeed praying for you and with you. A genuine Christian friend always desires to pray for you, whether they are your accountability partner or not. But of course, they are not all-knowing, and there are some things in your life for which you need prayer that they don’t know about. You can ask them to pray for you in such a case. You can also mention it to them whenever you have coffee or catch up.

Proverbs 17:17

A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Proverbs 18:24

A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

Proverbs 27:6

Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

When asking for a friend to pray for you, you must ask a Christian friend. Asking an unbelieving friend is pointless for a number of reasons. First of all, none of their prayers reach God because they are still living in sin. Only if they repent and follow Christ can they be in Christ and be able to will their prayers reach God. The chances are also high that they don’t read the Bible. If ever they do, they might have a wrong understanding of it. In other words, only through reading God’s Word can we know His will and, because of that, pray for His will. How can they pray a godly prayer or a prayer that is within the will of God if they don’t know God or His Word to begin with?

How do you ask someone to pray for you?

Not everyone in the church community is your friend. That was not meant to sound negative. Not everyone is your friend in the church because you are not close with everyone. Do you know everyone’s problems or breakthroughs in the church? Certainly not, but you know the problems or breakthroughs of your close friends in the church. Even so, that does not mean that other people in the church community can’t pray for you. Praying for fellow believers is not just a Christian friend thing, but a church community thing. What you can do is simply ask people in your church. Your church community can also pray for you, weep with you and support you if you’re going through hardships. You can approach them and ask them to pray for you and remember you in their prayers. Whether they are a close Christian friend or anyone else in the church community, you can ask them not just to pray for you on the spot, but also to remember you in their prayers whenever they pray to God in their devotion with Him. A biblical church community is a community that prays for you and takes up your burden with you. They are not people who only bless you out of generosity if you have needs, but they also pray for your burdens, as if it were also theirs. You are not going through your problems alone because your church community is weeping with you, and if you have any breakthroughs or something to celebrate, they will also rejoice with you. If you are sick, you can ask your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to always pray for your healing. You can also approach your pastor or ministers and ask them to pray for you and remember you in prayers. Your pastor also prays for you all the time, provided that he knows about your prayer request(s).

Romans 12:15

Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

Ephesians 6:18

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

Galatians 6:2

Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

1 Timothy 2:1

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

James 5:16

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.

While there is no perfect church community, a biblical church shall continuously love their fellow brothers or sisters in Christ. Those who truly encounter God who is love, and those who are genuinely born of God, shall love their fellow brother and sister in Christ. That love does not just exist as mere words, but is shown in action; one way to do that is praying for others. It is also important to remember that you have to be wise when asking people in the church community to pray for you, especially if your prayer concerns are sensitive. Not everyone in the church has the same maturity.

1 John 4:7-8

7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

1 John 4:19-21

19 We love him, because he first loved us.

20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

When you ask people in the church to pray, you can pray this prayer to God to give you wisdom and discernment as you choose who to approach:

Father in heaven, You are the God of wisdom who gives wisdom generously to those who ask You. I pray that You will also give me the wisdom and discernment I need as I approach people in the church community to ask them to pray for me and with me. Give me the discernment to ask only those properly mature in the faith. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Whenever you are going through suffering or hardships in life, just know that you don’t have to go through it alone. That is why God wants us to always be in fellowship with other believers because life is not meant to be lived alone. You can have people who will never forget you in their prayers a church community.