When last did you pray for another believer? Many times we focus on ourselves in prayer until we forget to pray for others.
We wait until other believers are in serious trouble before we pray for them. What if we made praying for one another a norm?
That is what this article is about; to help believers tap into the abundant grace of praying for one another.
The Story of Job
During the suffering of Job, his friends brought accusations against him. Job insisted that he was innocent but his friends were relentless in accusing him.
In the end, God gets angry at Job’s friends and asks them to go offer a burnt offering and ask Job to pray for them that God’s wrath may not come upon them.
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When Job prayed for them, God restored double the fortunes that he had lost.
10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.
Job 42:10
The restoration of Job was tied to friends even though they had mocked him. Many are the times people mock us. But do we ever take time to pray for them?
How many ‘Jobs’ have failed to pray for their friends and missed their restoration? Unforgiveness blocks the blessings of God from reaching us.
Lessons from Jesus
Jesus explicitly asks us to love our enemies and PRAY for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). It is a requirement for believers to pray for those who persecute them.
God knows that by the time you go on your knees to pray for someone who mocked you, you will have forgiven him. God tied a blessing on praying for others to encourage us to do it.
Jesus showed us on several occasions that we are called to pray for one another by doing it Himself.
31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
Luke 22:31
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
John 17:20-21
In the case of Peter, Jesus prayed for him even without his knowledge. Jesus only gave him a report of what happened.
There are many people who are unspiritual yet they are suffering from spiritual problems. It is up to us believers to pray for them even without their knowledge.
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Just as the prayer of Jesus helped the faith of Peter not to fail, so your prayer will help a weak believer to be strong. Knowing that someone prayed for you is so encouraging. The weak believer will be motivated to work to be stronger.
We are used to saying ‘I’ll pray for you.’ What if we purpose to change that statement to ‘I prayed for you?’ Won’t Jesus be glad that we are walking in His footsteps?
Jesus still makes intercessions for us even today.
Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Romans 8:34
We are the followers of Christ. If He is making intercessions for us and we are supposed to be like Him, it means we are also supposed to make intercessions for others.
We are one body and we work together to keep the body nourished.
Our Task
When you learn about someone’s weakness, pray for that person. That is a call from God. In fact, before you say a word about that person’s flaw, pray for him.
Anytime your heart has resentful thoughts about any believer, pray for that believer. Let your mind be tuned to pray for anyone who displeases you.
The devil will always set up believers against one another but we defeat him by praying for one another. When you see a strong believer becoming weak, pray for him.
Pray for your pastor and church leaders too. No one is too ‘holy’ to need prayers. Make it a priority to pray for as many people as you can.
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When you hear people accusing a certain preacher of being false, pray for those people and the pastor they are accusing. We are one body and we must stand up for one another. Your reward will be great.
In the end, it is the love that we have for one another that will keep us together. Jesus in His prayer for us asked that we may be ONE just as He is one with the Father.
Parting Shot
A lot of speaking barely solves any problem but a lot of praying solves many problems. Pray without ceasing.
God bless you!