Borrowed Prayers

Sometimes, I don’t know how to pray for people. And that’s a bummer,
because Jesus calls us to pray for others—for our friends, our leaders, and
even our enemies (Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:28; 1 Timothy 2:1-4). But how do you
pray when you have no idea what to pray? One thing I’ve started doing is
using some of the prayers in the Bible as a guide. After all, they are in
the Bible. One of my favorite prayers is found in Ephesians 3. Paul is
writing to Christians in Ephesus, and in the middle of his letter he
includes a prayer. At the heart of it is a desire for his brothers and
sisters in Ephesus to know Jesus’s love. I like to insert the name of the
person I’m praying for into this prayer, and then read it aloud or silently
as my own prayer to God. And, because Paul mentions that he kneels before
God the Father at the beginning of this prayer, sometimes I kneel while I
read these verses: “I kneel before the Father…I pray that out of his
glorious riches he may strengthen you [ _____ ] with power through his
Spirit in your [ _____’s] inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your
hearts [ _____’s heart] through faith. And I pray that you [ _____ ], being
rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the
Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the
love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you [
_____ ] may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians
3:14-19). So, the next time you want to pray for someone but you’re not
sure what to say, consider using a prayer from the Bible as a guide. As we
ask according to God’s will, we can rest assured that He hears us (1 John
5:14-15). • Hannah Howe • Have you ever wanted to pray for someone, but you
weren’t sure how? Read Romans 8:26. How could it be comforting to know that
the Holy Spirit prays for us, even when we don’t know how to pray? • Who is
someone you could pray for right now? Consider taking a moment to read a
prayer found in the Bible (such as Numbers 6:24-26; Ephesians 3:14-21;
Philippians 1:9-11; or Colossians 1:9-14) and pray these words for this
person. I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession
and thanksgiving be made for all people. 1 Timothy 2:1 (NIV)

Read Verses:

Numbers 6:24-Numbers 6:26; Ephesians 3:14-Ephesians 3:21