Week Eighteen, 2017

So Peter was being kept in the prison, but the congregation was intensely praying to God for him. – Acts 12:5

What is the focus of your prayer life? Do you pray more for yourself than for others? Many Christians jump into their prayer life with a grocery list of personal things they want God to do in their life.

While it is proper to bring our personal cares before the Lord, it is of greater importance to pray for others, both the saved and the unsaved. Praying for ourselves and praying for others is something God commands us to do.

Effective prayer for others will bring us closer to God, because effective prayer is based on a Knowledge of His will. It will also bring us closer to others, as we learn more about them and focus on their needs.

Praying for others is important because it fulfills a New Testament command. We are to pray for all people. We are to pray for government leaders. We are to pray for the unsaved. We are to pray for fellow Christians. We are to pray for ministers of the gospel. We are to pray for the persecuted church. Praying for others gets our focus off of ourselves and onto the needs around us. As we “carry each other’s burdens,” we “will fulfill the law of Christ.”

Begin praying for others today and help to build up the body of Christ. It is a great way to grow spiritually, as it takes the focus off of you and onto others.

Thoughts: As you contemplate your prayer life, ask what gets more of your focus. Is it you or others? One of the best ways to grow spiritually is to focus more on others than on ourselves.

Prayer: Lord, help me to pray more for others than for myself. May I see the needs of others and bring them before the throne of grace and may I grow spiritually in the process.

To make intercession for men is the most powerful and practical way in which we can express our love for them. John Calvin

He replied, “What is impossible for people is possible with God.” Luke 18:27 (NLT)

Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and hurry on as if nothing happened. Winston Churchill

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