Pray for your friends

Is there a sweeter gift for your friends than praying the Scriptures over them?

After all, there are few things on earth more precious than friendship.

To have people in your life you can be real with. With no pretenses. No masks. No filters.

No fear of offense because they’re quick to give you the benefit of the doubt.

The ones who will tell you what you need to hear…

even if it’s not always what you want to hear.

The ones who have your back…

but at the same time don’t hesitate to hold your feet to the fire.

I’m blessed to have several people in my life who fit this description. Dearly loved friends, treasured family members who are also friends, and a cherished husband who was first (and remains to this day) my friend.

I must confess that while I pray frequently for specific needs in the lives of my friends, I have room to grow in the realm of praying the Scriptures for them.

Let’s fix that, shall we?

Prayers for Your Friends

Pray that according to the riches of God’s glory, He may grant your friend to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in her inner being, so that Christ may dwell in her heart through faith—that she, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that she may be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:16-19).

Ask that the Lord would bless your friend as he trusts in the Lord. Pray that he would be like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots strong and deep by the stream, and has no need to fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit (Jeremiah 17:7-8). Pray that God would make your friend strong, fruitful, and flourishing for His glory.

Pray that the Lord bless your friend and keep her; that He would make his face to shine upon her and be gracious to her; that the Lord would lift up His countenance upon her and give her peace (Numbers 6:24-26).

Implore the Lord not to allow steadfast love and faithfulness to forsake your friend, but that he would bind them around his neck and write them on the tablet of his heart. Remind God of His Word, which teaches that doing this will bring your friend favor and good success in the sight of God and man. Pray that he would trust in the Lord with all his heart, and not lean on his own understanding. Ask that in all his ways he would acknowledge God, and God will make straight your friend’s paths. Entreat the Lord to help your friend not be wise in his own eyes, but to fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. Claim God’s promise that this will result in healing to your friend’s flesh and refreshment to his bones (Proverbs 3:3-8).

Ask that when your friend walks in the midst of trouble, God would preserve her life. Claim His promise to stretch out His hand against the wrath of your friend’s enemies, to deliver her with His right hand. Remind God of His commitment to fulfill His purpose for your friend, and of His steadfast and endless love for her. Ask Him not to forsake her, the work of His hands (Psalm 138:7-8).

Beg theLord Jesus Christ Himself, and God your Father, who loved you and gave you eternal comfort and good hope through grace, to comfort your friend’s heart and establish it in every good work and word (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17).

Pray that the God of endurance and encouragement would grant you and your friend to live in harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 15:5-6).

Dear Heavenly Father, You are our Friend who sticks closer than a brother. You are our example of true friendship – One who laid down His life for His friends. Thank you for the gift of human friendship, which is a tangible representation of Your love and care for us. I pray that You would make me one who encourages my friends to press on in this race called life, and to press in towards You. It’s in the name of my Savior, Jesus Christ, that I pray. Amen.

Ready to take your prayers for your friends to the next level? If so, this challenge might be just what you’re looking for. Click for more information and to sign up!

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Last Update 5th October, 2016.

So you’ve committed to praying for your unsaved friends. This is a great first step. Making a prayer list of your friends who God has given you a heart for will help to remind you to prayer for them and show you how to pray for them.

Once you’ve made this list here is a 10 point Biblical prayer you can pray over them.

Let me give you a practical model to make your friends prayer list.

How I Use a Friends Prayer List

I use a life journal notebook for my devotional times each morning so I use a half sheet of paper that fits nicely into my devotional book.

Doing it this way means I make changes to the list as life circumstances change and I can move it around as a bookmark for my devotionals.

The main thing though is that I know I’ll see this list every morning and it will prompt me to pray for my friends to come to Christ.

Knowing Who to Pray For

Take a moment to look at your friendships and ‘circle of influence’.  

Think of people you are closest to and spend time with on a regular basis. 

On a scrap piece of paper, write as many names down as possible in sixty seconds. Simply write whoever springs to mind. 

Now look over the list…

1. If they go to church with you, cross them off.
2. If they are a member of another church, cross them off.
3. Who is left?

You may find that you know some people who go to church with you, yet have no evidence of a relationship with Christ.  Feel free to add them or keep them on your list.

Writing Your Friends Prayer List

I then take this list and write the completed list of names for my journal.

As you write each name, also ask God for how to pray for them and make any notes next to their name.

Ask God for specific areas.

For example:

• Show me opportunities to speak with them.
• Help them to see their need for You.
• Is God inviting me to spend a little more time with them?
• Reveal Yourself to them so that they know You are real.

Everyone is at a different stage of their spiritual journey. What is your friends next step to get closer to God?

If they are hostile to God, how I can pray that they may start seeking God?

If they deny God exists, how can I pray that they would know that He is real?

If they are seeking God, how can I pray they would talk with me about how I found God?

If they are studying the Bible in their search, how can I pray that God’s Word would speak to them?

In other words, I try to pray in accordance with the work that God might be doing in their spiritual life already. Salvation is a work of the Lord and you are working in partnership with Him.

“Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays. – Soren Kierkegaard”

Watch for Answers

Going beyond the generic and into specifics prepares me to cooperate with what God might be inviting me into.

It shows me what to look out for, to see where they are on their spiritual journey and how I could be used by God in their life.

As God answers some of those specific petitions on my prayer list, I’ll update the list from time to time.

Updating my prayer list helps me to see progress in a person’s journey towards Christ.

“Therefore, my confession of faith is: ‘God has begun a good work in ______’s life and He will perform it and bring it to full completion until the day of Jesus Christ, in Jesus’ Name.’” 

Your Turn

• Make your prayer list today. Stick the list somewhere you know you’ll see it everyday.
• Commit to praying for 30 days for every name on the list as God directs.
• Learn more about friendship evangelism here.

                  

If you want to grow in some simple next steps in personal evangelism and reach for the lost you may find these three books helpful to you.

These may help you answer the question:

“What can you do in the next 90 days to grow in your evangelism skills?”

Have You ever used a friends prayer list before? Do you a testimony you want to share to encourage others to speak about their faith? Share your comments below.

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What a wonderful thing friendship is! Do you have that one person in your life that you can confide in about anything and they will keep it a secret and pray for you? Do you have that one friend who knows your darkest secrets and will help hold you accountable? Friendship is a beautiful thing when it is done right, meaning, no gossiping or emotional beat downs. True friendship is a mutual nurturing of each other’s soul for the cause of Christ. Here are 7 different prayers you can pray for your friends or for friendship in general.

Your Spouse

Gracious Father in Heaven,

You have given me the most amazing spouse ever! I am proud to call him/her my best and dearest friend! Father, today I vow to show my spouse how much I love them. He/She listens to me when I am stressed. He/She rubs my shoulders after a long day of work. He/She takes the time to maintain our relationship emotionally, physically and spiritually. We spend time in the Word together! We sing praises to You together! I love my spouse more than words can say! I praise You, O Lord, for providing me with my best friend as my spouse! My cup is truly overflowing with blessings! Amen

The Longing

O Lord,

I am so depressed. I long to have just one friend who really understands me and who will not judge me. Lord, my church is full of men and women that seem wonderful but I have yet to actually build a concrete friendship with one. Please give me an opportunity to build one of these friendships, Lord. I pray that next weekend I can find someone to start a meaningful friendship with. If not, I will still follow You, Lord. May Your will be done always. Amen

Satan’s Demons

True friendship is a mutual nurturing of each other’s soul for the cause of Christ.

Omnipotent Lord

You have the power to do as You please and right now my brother, Your child, is under attack by Satan and his legion of demons. Father, I understand that all tests come because You allow them. May my friend find true knowledge through this trial quickly. Lord, I pray that You help my brother in Christ to stay strong. May he keep strong in prayer and in the Word! I will walk with him through this entire ordeal and when it is over, we will both say it is well. Amen

Mold Me

Father,

You are the potter and I am the clay. Lord, You know who my dearest friends are. I want them to see Jesus when they see me. Lord, please mold me in such a way that You can use me to be the feet of Jesus to them. Whatever the need is, I want to be there for them, Lord. I want to pray with them and for them. I want to study Your Word with them. I want to sing praises to You with them. I want to listen to them with a compassionate heart when they are hurting. Lord, may I always be willing to push pride off of me and allow You to shape me into someone who lives like Jesus does! I love you, Lord! Amen

Praising God for Friends

Loving Father,

I want to thank You for giving me the wonderful circle of friends that I have. You have surrounded me with people that really love You and that want to know me more each day! Thank you, Lord, for they have all shown me so much love and I am truly grateful for their friendship. Thank you for providing me with friends that hold me accountable in my walk with You as I hold them accountable as well. Lord, I praise Your holy name for blessing me with such amazing friends! I love You, Father! Amen

This isn’t Goodbye

Father,

My time has come to leave this world and my strength is failing. Thank you for the many loved ones in my life that You have grown so close to me. My friends throughout this journey of life have been there for me through so many things. They prayed for me when I lost family members. They sat with me and listened to me when times were rough. I helped them with financial difficulties when I could. I pray for them daily, Lord. We have grown so close over the years and this time is so difficult. I am ready for Glory, Lord. I am sad that I will be apart from those I love for a while. Please, Lord, give them strength to stay strong, run the race, and finish well! I will be at the finish line waiting for them! This is not goodbye, but only a short separation from them. Thank you for the life You have given me here. I can’t wait to see Jesus face to face! I love You, Lord! Amen

He Calls me Friend

Dear Lord,

What a friend we have in Jesus! He calls me His friend! Lord, I praise You for sending Jesus to die on the cross to save me from my sins. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) Jesus laid down His life for me and I can’t say “thank you” enough to Him! I want to love like Jesus does, Father! Jesus, my friend, is worthy of all honor and praise! Words can never express how great His love is for us, but I thank You, Father, for sending Jesus to us! Without His sacrifice we would still have a rift between us, Father. He tore the veil! Thank you for the wonderful friend we have in Your Son, Jesus! Amen

Conclusion

These are 7 different prayers relating to many different facets of friendship. I pray that no matter where you are at in your walk with God, you will continue to spur one another on in your friendships. “Iron sharpens iron and one man sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17) May God bless you as you live a life worthy of the calling!

Take a look at this other article that includes prayers:

7 Inspirational Prayers

Resources –  The Holy Bible, English Standard Version “Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. YouTube video “Friend of God” by Phillips, Craig and Dean

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No one prayed for me. At least no one has ever reported praying for me.

My parents were not religious in any way. But they choose to drop me off every Sunday night at a church youth group when I entered 7th grade.

For months, I didn’t want to go.  But once I made friends there, I changed my tune.  I wanted to be there.

But no one I knew was praying for me.  Not that I have ever known.

Yet Jesus found me anyway and I’m grateful for God’s sovereignty to help me become a follower of Christ.

I have been a Christ follower since I was 15 years old.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Pray for your lost friends

Now  I urge people to pray for the unsaved friends in their life, their community, nation, ethnic groups and so on.

Prayer is one of the 7 Axioms of Personal Evangelism.

I pray for them, asking the Lord

• to open their hearts to message of the gospel,
• that their eyes would be open to the truth of the gospel,
• that they would see their need for Jesus.

Which of my lost friends do I pray for?

Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD : The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. – 1 Samuel 3.7

As I read this a few mornings ago, I simply began to think:

• Who am I praying for to know the Lord?
• Who am I praying for God to reveal His word?

I can think of several people today in the reach of my life who do not yet know the Lord.

Every now and then, I make a fresh list of people I know who don’t yet know the Lord .

In fact, as of this writing, we have moved into a brand new community and have started to meet our neighbors.

We don’t know the spiritual condition of any of them. But we can begin to pray for opportunities to start new friendships.

21 days of Praying for lost friends: An Example

One Easter Season, our church ran in a 21 day season of prayer.

Each morning our pastor would emails us 3 scriptures to read and some guidance for prayer.

Our commitment was three times of prayer during the day.

• 9am,
• 3pm, and
• 9pm.

Praying through these Scriptures and the prayer guidance took about half an hour each time.

Unfortunately, I have lost that series of emails, so I couldn’t share it here, but at least it’s a structure one could use.

As I prayed for my lost friends during that commitment, I found that I was constantly

• thinking about the sermon series that is coming,
• praying that I’d encounter people wrestling with the series topic.
• giving invitations to come and join us.
• praying for the particular friends on my prayer list to invite them to church

Prayer prepared me, as well as preparing the church for the spiritual work of evangelism that is coming.

Seven Ways to Pray for Your Lost Friends

Sometimes, I find it helpful to have a list of items to pray through.

Here is my list of 7 Ways to Pray for Your Lost Friends

1. Ask God to make them spiritually thirsty. (Isaiah 41:17-18)
2. Ask God to open their heart to receive (Acts 16:4).
3. Ask God to help me be salt and light at the right time (Colossians 4:6)
4. Ask God to give us conversational opportunity (Acts 8:26-40).
5. Ask God to help me discern if I’m planting, watering, or harvesting (1  Corinthians  3:6-7)
6. Ask God that I’m sensitive to His nudges to get involved (Acts 8:26-40)
7. Ask God to help that person take another step closer to Him.  (Psalm 23).

Other’s have written along these lines.  I include them here to help fuel your prayer points for evangelism.

I have shared a strategy from others called 10 Ways to pray for your lost friends.

1. Ask God to open their spiritual eyes (2 Cor. 4:4).
2. Ask God to give them ears to hear (Matt. 13:15),
3. Ask God to give them faith to believe (Acts 20:21).
4. Ask God to give them the will to respond (Rom. 10:9).
5. Ask God to send people into their lives to witness to them (Matt. 9:38).
6. Ask God for ways to build caring relationships ((I Cor. 9:22).
7. Ask God for opportunities to witness (Col. 4:3).
8. Ask God for boldness to witness (Acts 4:29).
9. Ask God for an opportunity to invite them (Luke 14:23).
10. Ask God to set them free from spiritual captivity (2 Tim. 2:25-26).

Blogger and Pastor Bob Mayfield shares these 7 ways to pray for your lost friends.

1. Convict them of their personal sin and lostness (Acts 2:37, John 16:8);
2. Open their eyes and reveal Christ as Lord and Savior (Matthew 16:17; 2 Corinthians 4:4);
3. To draw them to Christ through the Holy Spirit (John 6:44);
4. Tear down any strongholds that are keeping them from salvation (1 Corinthians 10:3-5);
5. Make their hearts receptive to the Gospel (Matthew 13:8);
6. Move them to repentance and saving faith (Like 13:3; Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Corinthians 5:17):
7. Help them be a fruitful witness themselves (Matthew 28:18-20; John 15:8).

The Structure doesn’t matter.

The point is to pray.

Outlines and Scriptures are helpful, but none are a formula to increase conversions.

One of the most popular free recordings on this website is a on praying through a set of verses from Colossians.

If you’d like to lead an evangelistic prayer meeting, here is a structure you could use with 11 phases.

The structure doesn’t matter.

What matters is you talking to God about your friends.

Coaching Corner – The One Thing

Commit to a 30 day season of prayer for your friends.

Here are two free resources to help you:

1. Develop a prayer list of friends.  Here is how I do it.
2. 30 Days of Prayer series.  Start here.

www.evangelismcoach.org