Ten Biblical Prayers for a Close Friend

In case you missed it, Riverwood started 21 Days of Prayer this past Sunday. I thought it was a great start! If you missed it, here are three things I encourage you to do:

1. Listen to last Sunday's message.
2. Pick up a 21 Dangerous Prayers booklet this Sunday.
3. Grab a prayer-reminder bracelet to wear for the rest of this month.

Also, if you are not fasting from social media during these 21 days, be sure to follow or like Riverwood on Twitter and Facebook. We are posting Scripture and prayers from the 21 Dangerous Prayers booklets every morning at 7:00 am to remind you to keep praying throughout your day.

And finally, do what you can to be present this Sunday as we continue our series with "Lord, Break Me." I'll be telling some of my own personal story of praying a similar prayer that ultimately lead to the planting of Riverwood.

Praying for Others
Because we are in series on the topic of "Dangerous Prayers" right now praying for God to "search me, break me, and send me," I want to give you some ideas for how to extend prayer beyond yourself by praying for others. Next week we'll look at some biblical prayers you can pray for kids (whether your own, the neighbor kids, or nieces & nephews). And then the following week, I'll give you some biblical prayers you pray for your spiritually disconnected friends.

This week, though, I want to give you some biblical prayers you can pray for someone close to you who follows Jesus, like your spouse or a close friend. This list is inspired by an article by Jonathan Parnell about what Jesus-following men can pray for their wives. But as I read Jonathan's ideas, I realized his list can extend to anyone you love and care for that already follows Christ.

So if you follow Jesus yourself, here are ten prayers inspired directly by Scripture you can pray for a fellow follower of Jesus:

1. "God, help him/her desire You more than anything else." (Psalm 73:25)

2. "Increase his/her faith in You." (Hebrews 11:6).

3. "Intensify his/her joy through Jesus" (John 15:10-11).

4. "Soften his/her heart to reflect your heart" (Ezekiel 11:19).

5. "Help him/her cherish Your people" (Romans 12:10).

6. "Give him/her wisdom" (James 1:5).

7. "Sustain his/her health" (3 John 2).

8. "Multiply his/her influence" (2 Timothy 2:1-2).

9. "Make him/her hear Your voice" (John 10:27).

10. "Overwhelm him/her with your grace" (2 Corinthians 12:9).

My advice is to save this list somewhere so that when you are at a loss for what to pray for someone, you can look over this to get some ideas of what to pray. And hey, if you want to pray for these things for yourself as well, I'm not going to stop you!