5 Groups Christians Need to Pray For Today
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It is once again a new year. We’re all busy setting goals and making plans. There always seems to be a lot of hope around the new year, but as the year progresses, that hope fizzles into something else because we’ve lost that inspiration and excitement.
Being a Christian, prayer is a very important part of my life. I know though, that most Christians, just like I do, struggle with prayer. What do we pray for? How do we pray? Is what we are praying for in God’s will?
If you want to know God’s will, read the Bible. God is very clear with what He wants, and He reveals it to us in the Bible. He also reveals the things we need to pray for.
The most important prayers we pray are for ourselves and others. Here are five groups we need to pray for:
1. Our leaders
I personally don’t like the direction our country is going in. I think there needs to be fundamental change, but true change happens in the heart. When true change takes place in the heart, then the things around us will change.
When we pray for our leaders, we need to pray that they will make good decisions. The decisions they make ultimately affect all of us, and we want them to use wisdom to make good decisions.
2. Our neighbors
After reading the Bible for awhile, I understood that there are two kinds of people in the world: our neighbors and our brothers. Brothers are fellow believers, while neighbors are everyone else.
Where a lot of people go wrong is that they think they have to like everyone they meet. Liking someone is about who he/she is. Let’s be honest here: not everyone is likeable. I don’t like everyone I meet. Jesus didn’t like the Pharisees. It’s not a sin to not like someone.
Jesus didn’t tell us we had to like anyone. He said to love everyone. Love your neighbor as yourself. Praying for your neighbor is one way to show your love. Pray for their needs to be met. Pray that they will find answers to their problems.
3. Our brothers
As I said before, our brothers are fellow believers. There are many believers throughout the world that don’t have it as well as we do in the United States. They are persecuted beyond belief, and yet they still continue to believe.
The Bible says that prayer availeth much. By praying for fellow believers, we are helping others in ways we may not understand.
4. Our enemies
In Matthew 5:44Matthew 5:44
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
WP-Bible plugin, Jesus tells us to pray for our enemies. (He also says to love them.) This is a hard thing to do.
When Jesus hung on the cross, He prayed for forgiveness for those who had Him crucified. If He could be that loving and forgiving, who are we to argue?
The value of this prayer is that it has the potential to release us from the hurt someone may have caused us. (We are not excusing the behavior or giving others a free pass to do it again.)
When we refuse to forgive, we aren’t hurting those we refuse to forgive. We are hurting ourselves. By praying for blessing for our enemies, it will release us from any hold they may have on us.
5. Ourselves
As a woman this is one I am especially guilty of. We get so concerned about others, or worse, we’re so concerned about being involved in the business of others that we forget to pray for ourselves.
Jesus wasn’t timid about praying for Himself. He asked God to “remove the cup”. This means that Jesus asked God not to have Him die on the cross. (It was a prayer that was denied because it wasn’t in line with God’s will.)
Praying for ourselves is a way of taking care of ourselves. It’s a chance to talk to God and enjoy relationship with Him.
Remembers, when you pray, you don’t need to use fancy words, or say special prayers, or anything like that. Speak from your heart. Tell God your concerns. He knows exactly what you need. He knows what others need. Learn His will and watch your prayers get answered.
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January 06 2009 07:26 am | Christian Articles
