How to Talk to Jesus about Someone

Not everyone you share the love of Jesus with believes Jesus can love them. You translate Jesus—and let Him transform them. Jesus is so good to invite us to receive His love and give it away. This is when prayer proves powerful. Take that very love you lead with and pray for that woman in the office. That man in the restaurant. Those kids in your neighborhood.

We learn this prayer language from Mary, who sent word to Jesus concerning her sick brother, Lazarus: “Lord, the one you love is sick” (John 11:3 NIV). As love leads, your prayers change and your pronoun is now plural, being you and Jesus.

The one we love, Jesus, is sick.

The one we love, Jesus, is in prison.

The one we love, Jesus, is looking to everything else but You.

Maybe you’re thinking, I can’t pray. I don’t know how to pray. I’ve tried it and given up because I couldn’t connect or He didn’t answer. In the name of Jesus, in this moment, I pray against prayerlessness for you and me.

Turn what you see into what you pray. This is praying for people. Three tips from the Alpha Course on how to pray are to keep it simple, keep it honest, and keep it going. I love how this approach takes the mechanics out of prayer and keeps it as an ongoing conversation with Jesus, where we pick up where we left off and where He always has our ear!

Consider the closed-door strategy: if the door to speak with them about Jesus is closed, talk to Jesus about them. Not all doors are open. As we pay attention to culture and its ever-changing ways, we are mindful in prayer and sensitive to the Spirit’s activity. We are creatively thinking with His mind on how to engage in various cultural situations. Just because we live in this world doesn’t mean our engagement has to mimic how this world does it.

Prayer on the spot is often one-on-one prayer with another person. The Holy Spirit speaks through you when you pray with someone. This takes faith, and once it happens, you’ll want Him to do it again.

Prayer: Father, teach me to pray for others and with others.