Praying for People's Spiritual Needs

     If you keep a prayer journal, I'm sure your list of prayer requests is very long. In whatever local church you attend, you are sure to find countless needs: people going through sicknesses, deaths, job losses, financial struggles, and more. The list goes on and on with all kinds of physical and emotional needs. However, we often forget about the most important needs of all: spiritual needs.

     How often do we (myself included) pray for our friends in the good times? Not just when they are facing a difficult diagnosis or going through financial problems, but when life is going well. I assure you, even when someone's physical, emotional, and financial health is flourishing, their spiritual health could be withering.




    For example, believers may forget their need for God once they've been healed from their sickness. We may rely on our current pleasant circumstances for our joy. We may wrestle with doubts or question our faith behind our convincing church-smiles.We may sing the songs and do our Christian duties apathetically, lukewarm towards God. Perhaps we harbor unforgiveness in our hearts, or struggle with a secret sin that no would have never guessed we faced. Or maybe our faith is at a standstill, where we are neither growing nor regressing.

    Church leadership is not exempt from problems. Just because someone holds a leadership position in the church does not mean that they don't struggle with sin. In fact, they may struggle the most. Not only must they maintain their own spiritual lives, but they are also expected to listen to, care for, pray for, and nurture the many church members placed within their care. Meanwhile, they are rarely expected to ask for help from others. This can put them in a lonely position - and a lonely position is a vulnerable position. Also, the enemy is certainly not happy with the work they're doing. For these reasons, Christians in leadership need our prayers - not only for wisdom as they lead us, but for strength in their personal battles as well.

    You may be wondering about the practical application of this. With all the sicknesses, deaths, natural disasters, and financial struggles to pray for, how can we pray for people's spiritual struggles as well?

    Although I typically don't adhere to the stereotypes of my age group, I'm going to give you the teenage-answer on this one: there's an app for that.

    I found a magnificent app for prayer called PrayerMate. You can organize your prayer requests into categories such as personal, family, missions, friends, etc. In the friends category, I include a list of names of my friends. Then, every time I pray, the app will show one name, and I will pray for that specific person. This way, you don't need to pray for everyone you know every time you pray. The app cycles through the names, ensuring that at some point, you have prayed for everyone on your list. A prayer session will include one item from each category (or from some of the categories). This is what it will show:

My Walk with God - Humility

My church -  Sunday School teachers

Family -  [insert name of family member]

Friends -  [insert friend's name]

Missions -  World Hunger

    I highly recommend this app, as it has reminded me to pray for people and things that I often forget to pray for. It reminds me to pray for certain people, regardless of whether they are going through times of adversity.

So, how should we pray for others' spiritual needs? When I decide to pray for someone, I don't always know the specific situations that person is going through. However, there are a few general things that I pray for each person:

Pray for Whatever Unknown Struggle They Have

None of us knows all of what a person is going through physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. They may be going through a sickness, dealing with depression, or struggling with a piece of bad news. On the other hand, they may be in a happy season in their life, with no sickness, sadness, or adversity. However, they could be dealing with something spiritually - a sin, confusion over what they should do, or lukewarmness. I don't know what the problem is, but God does. Therefore, I pray, "Lord, I ask you to help them through anything they are going through - physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually."

Pray for the Adversity to Fulfill its Purpose

If there is a known struggle that someone is having, I don't always ask God to take it away (unless it's His will). I ask that the sickness, loss, or financial difficulty would grow them closer to Him. Maybe God allowed the sickness because it would remind them of what Jesus went through on the cross. God may have allowed someone to go through loss to show them His comfort. Perhaps he took away someone's job to teach them to trust Him more than their bank account.

                                                                                                                                                                  

"God sends the storm to show that He is the only shelter." - Unknown

"Sometimes God doesn't change your situation because He is trying to change your heart." - Unknown

                                                                                                            

Pray for Clarity and Guidance

In any stage of life, there can be a lot of ambiguity. Does God want me to do this? Is_____ a sin? Is it really God speaking, or just my own thoughts? Where should I start reading in the Bible? Who should I marry?

The questions are endless. Questions and doubts aren't just limited to graduates trying to decide what college to attend or twenty-somethings deciding who they should marry. I believe one of the devil's favorite tactics is confusion. Whenever God says, "No," satan says, "Maybe." When God says, "Reach out to that person," satan says, "Later." Every time God draws a clear line, the devil tries to blur it. That's why it's important to pray for guidance and clarity.

Pray for Spiritual Growth

When I pray for others, I ask God to grow them in whatever way He sees fit. He will use whatever means He chooses to accomplish that purpose - whether it be a situation, a person, or anything else.

Pray for an Unwavering Passion for God

In my life, I've been blessed not to have endured any physical or emotional trauma. I've gone through life mostly happily and easily. However, the one thing I've consistently struggled with is spiritual apathy. Years of growing up in church, hearing the Gospel over and over again, singing the songs, and praying the prayers often leaves me spiritually indifferent. I try to revive my own heart. I think the same things over again, trying to make myself feel amazement at the Christian cliches I've heard all my life. As a result, I've been prompted to pray for all the 'Church Kids' out there. For every person I pray for, I ask God to give them an unwavering passion for Him. Not only do I ask Him to give them a heart of worship (the emotion), but also to fill them with the knowledge of God (see Colossians 1:10).

Well, I hope this has been a helpful guide for how to pray for people's spiritual needs. God bless!