Prayer is a means of communicating or having a communion with God. Prayer involves a heart-to-heart talk with God in honesty. Psalms 66:18 says if I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. A prayerful heart must be free from evil. Psalms 141: 4 says do not turn my heart to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with those who work iniquity; do not let me eat of their delicacies. A heart of a prayer must be a heart of righteousness and for that the Lord answers. James 5: 16 says the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.
What does Christ Jesus want?
Jesus wants everyone to have a prayerful heart as he had. Therefore, he said in John 13: 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. A heart of prayer must not be self-centered nor selfish rather it must aim at the welfare of others. Paul said in 2Corinthians 12: 19 everything we do, beloved, is for the sake of building you up. We cannot pray for someone yet not love him, neither can we love someone yet not pray for him.
It is the duty of every God-loving heart to pray for one another. Romans 15: 30 says I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in earnest prayer to God on my behalf. However, prayer without love is empty. 1Corinthians 6: 2 says bear one another’s burdens, and in that way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Prayer is not only communicating with God but showing the sweet fellowship of God through love for one another. Colossians 3: 14 says above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Why must we pray for one another?
There are cogent reasons in the bible why we must pray for one another. They include as follows;
Jesus’ call to emulate his example
Jesus said in Matthew 11: 29, take my yoke upon you, and learn of me. Jesus always prayed for others for divine strength in their battles against sin and affliction from the evil one. He said to Simon Peter in Luke 22: 31-32, “Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” We are to pray for the church and our neighbours so the devil may not succeed against them. Romans 11: 18 says if you do boast, remember that it is not you that supports the root, but the root that supports you.
To keep God’s people united and thriving
Division makes God’s people spiritually weak and vulnerable. Jesus said in Matthew 12: 25; Mark 3: 25; Luke 11: 17 “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. A divided army will be vanquished in battle. A divided nation will lose its God-given prosperity. A divided people will lose their inheritance. The consequence of division is anarchy, oppression and humiliation. The enemy’s strength lies with our cracks of division and will lay waste our pride.
To support the weak among us
God enjoins us to support the weak just as he did for us. Acts 20: 35 says in all this I have given you an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, for he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.”’ Material support is one form, the other is prayer support. Ephesians 6: 12 says our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. The way out is by prayer for one another. 3John 1: 8 says therefore we ought to support such people, so that we may become co-workers with truth.
Because we are one body in Christ
In Christ Jesus, we are one body. Romans 12: 4-5 say for as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members of one another. Paul wrote in 1Corinthians 12: 13-27 for in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–Jews or Greeks, slaves or free–and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many… If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honourned, all rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. Ephesians 4: 4 says there is one body and one Spirit. We must pray for the weaker members of one body.
So Christ’s peace in our hearts
Jesus’ peace is eternal and superior whereas the peace of the world is transient and inferior. Jesus prayed in John 14: 27, peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Paul prayed in Romans 15: 13, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. He prayed in Philippians 4: 7, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Peter prayed in 2Peter 1: 2, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. What we need is the peace of Christ Jesus, not peace of the world. Is this our prayer for one another? Without praying for one another, God’s peace and grace and joy in our hearts may elude us.
Who do we pray for and why?
May division and divisive tendencies be a thing of the past in Christ Jesus so that we will be enabled by the Holy Spirit to pray for one another as one and the same body in Christ Jesus to whom shall be all glory and honour. Jesus said in Matthew 5: 44-48; Luke 6: 27-35, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same… Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. God is waiting to answer our intercessory prayer for others.
Prayer
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you that we are one body in you. We repent of our selfish and self-centered prayers ignoring others. We commit to praying for one another even as we share in their plights in diverse ways. Help us to accept another’s burden as ours for your name sake. Let your Holy Spirit lead us in prayer as we bear the weaker ones up. In your holy name we have prayed, Amen!!
Send us your prayer request so we may join you in prayer
