How to Pray for Somebody All Day Long

To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power (2 Thessalonians 1:11)

There are two basic ways to pray for somebody.  There are “issue” kinds of prayers, and there are “always” kinds of prayers.  When somebody asks you to pray for his Uncle Jack because he’s having gallbladder surgery Monday, that’s an issue prayer.  It starts with the reason, or the issue.

Always prayers are different.  They don’t require intimate knowledge of immediate circumstances – just a willingness to pray anytime, anywhere.

How do you pray for somebody when you don’t know how to pray?  What do you do when you feel impressed – sometimes strongly – to pray for someone and don’t know what the immediate issues are?

That’s what Paul is dealing with in the verse above.  He knows who he is praying for and the kinds of people they are.  He knows in general terms what he has heard about them and from them.  So he prays, continually…

1.  That God would count them worthy of their calling.  In other words, that they would live lives worthy of the calling of God upon them.

2.  That God would, through His power, fulfill every desire for goodness and work of faith.

I like how The Message paraphrases this:  “that our God will make you fit for what he’s called you to be, pray that he’ll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy so that it all amounts to something.”

It’s one thing to have the calling – it’s another thing to live worthy of it.

It’s one thing to have the desire for goodness – it’s another thing to live in goodness.

It’s one thing to work in faith – it’s another thing to see that faith produce fruit.

Paul is praying that the power of God would be released in them to satisfy both God’s desire for them and their desires toward God.  That’s something you can pray for anybody, all the time.  And it’s just one example.  Paul’s letters are full of these kinds of prayers.

If somebody’s Uncle Jack is headed for surgery Monday, by all means pray for Uncle Jack’s successful recovery.  But sometimes the call is to pray for Uncle Jack, the man, rather than Uncle Jack the patient.

Try it yourself.  Right now you have somebody on your mind, don’t you?  Maybe more than one somebody.  As often as you think of them today, pray that they would walk worthy of their calling and see fruit from their faith.  Let God sort out the details.  He knows what’s going on better than you do anyway.  But he still wants to engage you in fulfilling His purpose.

Tagged as: Prayer