A 7-Day Guide To PrayerSmakprov

Get dirty.

Prayer is never a last line of defense. It’s our first line of offense. - Craig Groeschel

The Bible tells us to pray for others. One thing our prayers do is encourage people. When we get a text message, a note, or a phone call from someone saying they prayed for us, that encourages us. 

In praying for others, we are on the front lines of their lives. We get to pray on their behalf. As we grow in our closeness with God, praying for others will become easier, more natural, and even exciting. So, as we go about our day, let’s get our knees dirty and pray. Here are three groups to pray for:

Our inner circle. 
The smallest circle is the people in our lives we are closest to, including ourselves. This group needs us in their lives. It consists of family members and our closest friends. Praying for this group will be easier because we know them better. A majority of our prayers will go towards people in this group because they are at the forefront of our minds.

Our middle circle. 
This middle circle will be larger than our inner circle. This group consists of good friends, acquaintances and extended family members. We won’t always know what to pray for the people in this group but nonetheless, we pray for them anyway. A simple, “God, please give your wisdom to John” or “God, I pray she comes to know You” will suffice.

Our outer circle. 
This group will be the largest group in our life. It consists of people we don’t know or have a one-time interaction with. It could be the leader of our country, a celebrity, or a server at a restaurant. The prayers for these people might be far more general simply because we are not aware of what needs they have. Sometimes these prayers will not be specific so more general prayers are appropriate.

Here are some ideas to get us started: 

• Make a daily list and pray through it.
• Sit quietly and allow God to bring people to mind.
• Put a reminder on your phone to prompt you to pray. 
• Turn the music off while driving and pray instead.
• Pray in the moment when the need arises. 

To impact others, we must halt our own agendas. Our prayers don’t have to be long, and we don’t have to worry about the outcome. We did our part. We can stand on the truth that every prayer we ever pray will be heard by a loving, good God. Our prayers can be both spontaneous and planned. When God says we can come to Him for anything and everything, He really does mean it.

Let’s take Him up on His offer.

Reflect

• Spend time organizing your different circles and make a plan to go to God on their behalf regularly.
• Write down any revelation that God speaks to you through today’s Bible reading or devotional.