How to Start Praying More

Six Bible prayers to help you pray more for your friends

Apr 01, 2024

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We always pray for more pray-ers, that is: more people of God to pray more. Not enough of us are praying enough! Too many are neglecting time in the prayer closet or the prayer meeting.

And the Lord waits.

If you followed along in the sermon series study of Intercessory Prayer, we were exhorted to pray for others. And hopefully you were encouraged, as we were, to do so! If you haven’t read through that study yet, read on.

But where and how to begin, you ask?

Actually, by praying first for yourself! Start by asking the Lord to teach you to pray, help you to pray, and then to actually pray—not only for yourself, but your friends also.

Here are some Scripture suggestions

Luke 11:1-4

One day in a place where Jesus had just finished praying, one of His disciples requested, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
So Jesus told them, “When you pray, say:
‘Father, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.

ASK: Lord, teach me to pray like this!

Psalm 77:1-6

I cried out to God;
I cried aloud to God to hear me.
In the day of trouble I sought the Lord;
through the night my outstretched hands did not grow weary;
my soul refused to be comforted.
I remembered You, O God, and I groaned;
I mused and my spirit grew faint.
You have kept my eyes from closing;
I am too troubled to speak.
I considered the days of old,
the years long in the past.
At night I remembered my song;
in my heart I mused, and my spirit pondered…

ASK: Teach me to cry out for You, to seek You, remember, sing songs, and be filled with a spirit of prayer. Help me want to pray!

Ezekiel 9:4

“Go throughout the city of Jerusalem,” said the LORD, “and put a mark on the foreheads of the men sighing and groaning over all the abominations committed there.”

ASK: Give me that sigh--from inward grief for others sins and sorrows. That cry—to express grief with vocal groans, because of the abominations of this wicked land, and to bear testimony against it.

Zechariah 12:10

Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the house of David and the residents of Jerusalem, and they will look at me whom they pierced.

ASK: Give me that Spirit of grace and prayers; for internal grace, and to make supplications without ceasing.

Romans 8:26, 27

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

ASK: Lord, I do not pray as I should, help me in my prayer weakness, to pray according to Your will.

Hebrews 5:7

During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence.

ASK: That I would pray like my Lord, with reverent submission.

We ask our Father do what He has assured us He will, help us pray. Because our friends need our prayers, and our Lord waits to hear them.

More on the Sermon Study

We studied Intercessory Prayer, from C. H. Spurgeon, in which he taught us prayer for others from Job 42:10.

We pray this has been insightful and encouraging. If it has helped you, would it also help someone you know? What would be of great help to us, is that you would share, re-stack, link, comment, or subscribe! Please and thank you.