Prayer is hard work. I want to pray for the ones I love, but often I struggle to find adequate words. Particularly when I want to go beyond praying about physical needs and circumstances and intercede for them in eternal, spiritual matters. “God bless my husband” seems so insufficient.
This morning, during my time with God, my Bible reading plan led me to the first chapter of Colossians, a passage I’ve read many times. But today, Paul’s prayers for the Christians in Colosse felt particularly relevant. What prayer could be more powerful for my husband, my children, my friends, than God’s own words to us through the apostle Paul?
I’d like to share with you what God showed me in Colossians 1:9-14. Pull out your Bible and read along. God may point out something to you for your life that He didn’t highlight for me:
- Lord, give him (or her) a complete understanding of what you want to do in his life. (vs 9)
- Make him wise with spiritual wisdom from You. (vs 9)
- Help him live in a way that will honor and please You. (vs 10)
- Guide him to regularly do good, kind things for others. (vs 10)
- As he does these acts of kindness, teach him more and more about Yourself. (vs 10)
- Lord, strengthen him with your glorious power so he will have all the patience and endurance he needs to complete Your will for him today. (vs 11)
- Fill Him with joy. (vs 11)
- Overwhelm him with gratitude for the miracle of Your salvation. (vs 12)
Scripture holds a treasure of words we can pray for others. What is your favorite Scripture to pray for yourself or others? I would love for you to share it with us!
If you aren’t sure where to start here are a few resources to check out.
Twenty Spiritual Things to Pray for Other Christians
Sharing Jesus Prayer Guide – Scripture to pray for yourself and others as you share Jesus
Praying Scripture – This Scripture Dig post by Teri Lynne Underwood walks through Psalm 139 as an example of praying Scripture. Very practical.
Kathy ~ I LOVE how you broke Paul’s prayer down to practical prayers we can pray for those we love & even for ourselves. Great post!
Kathy, I love picking out the gems of a verse and using those beautiful bits as my prayers. You’ve done an absolutely fantastic job of that here!
I have so many “life verses” that I love to read over and over and pray for completion of those verses in me. Just one of my favorites is 1 Peter 5:6-7: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
Here I pray (for myself or for others) for God to give me humility, to acknowledge and lean upon His mighty hand, to truly and wholly give my worries to Him, and for renewal of my mind and heart to the knowledge that He loves and cares for us!
I love this practice! Thanks for sharing this today!
Hi Kathy, I was introduced to your book entitled, ” Before His Throne” and today I decided to get on line and look you up. Needless to say that I’ve truley enjoyed my visit to your site today and do plan to return frequently.
Here’s one of Paul’s prayers that I like to pray for my daughters and for my self. Philippians 1:9-11.
1. that their love for God will grow more and more
2. that you will have knowledge and understanding with your love
3. that you will see the difference between good and bad and will choose the good.
4. that you will be pure and without wrong til the coming of Christ.
5. that you will do many good things with the help of Christ to bring glory and praise to God.
Thank you for allowing me to share.
Hi Marion! Thanks for stopping by! And thanks for sharing your Scripture prayer with us. Praying Scripture is a powerful way to pray for others – especially our children.