Prayer
is essential. Prayer is vital. Prayer is both corporate and personal.
Prayer is more than just “sending up requests to God.” It is praise and
recognition and it is petitioning for asking God’s will upon this earth. We
pray as a means to seek forgiveness, reconciliation, and our daily needs.
So,
there is much in prayer. But, above all, the most important thing to remember
about prayer is it is a personal, loving and intimate time between us and God
our Father. The good news of prayer is that it isn’t just for us.
We
have the absolute privilege to pray for our family and for others. This is
commonly referred to as “intercessory prayer.” We can intercede for others by talking
with God about their needs and to ask Him to intervene on their behalf.
One
of the prayers that we can pray for others and, most importantly, for our
children is from Colossians 1:9-11.
These verses in Colossians can be set to prayer and personalized for those you
are praying for daily….just put the name of the one you are praying for in the
blank. Here it is:
Dear Heavenly Father,
I pray that You will give _______ a complete understanding of what You want to
do in _________'s life. I ask, dear
Father, that you will make ________ wise with spiritual wisdom so that the way
_______ lives will always honor and please You. I pray that through Your Holy
Spirit, ___________ will always do good, kind things for others and that, all
the while, ______will learn to know You better and better. Father, I pray that
_________ will be strengthened with Your glorious power so that ________ will
have all the patience and endurance they need. Father, please fill _______ with
Your Joy! In the Name of Jesus Christ I
pray, AMEN.
It
is our hope that you can use the outline of this Scripture as a tool to see how
this (and many other portions of the Bible) can be used as a way to “pray the
Scriptures” for yourself and for others. Philippians
4:6, “…in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”