4 Tips for When Your Friend asks You to Pray

What do you usually do when a friend asks you to help pray for a specific need? I’m not talking about when someone posts on Facebook for all of the world to see there is an “unspoken prayer request”. I’m talking about when your friend comes to you personally via face-to-face, e-mail, text or call and she pours out her heart to you and asks for prayer. How do you handle it?

I’m sure that first day while it is fresh on your mind, you will boldly declare faith and agree with your friend for a mighty move of God in the situation. You might continue to pray about the subject for the next week and then it slowly slips from your memory.

Prayer is a Powerful Tool

Prayer is a powerful tool that we have and your friend specifically came to you because they know you as a Prayer Warrior. What an honor! What a privilege to touch heaven for this need!

Matthew 18:19 ESV says “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.”

James 5:16 ESV says “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

1 Thessalonians 5:11 says “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”

We have been prompted to pray with our fellow sisters in Christ. We have been given the faith that we need to bind together and agree with them. Other than praying, there are things that you can do to let them know that they are on your mind and in your prayers.

4 Tips for When Your Friend asks You to Pray

Ask her how the situation is going:

There are two reasons for this. The first reason is because she needs to know that you are praying for her and that she is on your mind. This gives so much comfort to the one in need when they receive an unexpected text asking how a certain situation is going that was spoken about weeks ago.

The second reason is that you need to know which direction to pray. If you keep praying the same prayer over and over and God is already moving in a specific way, your prayers could become void. So make sure you are up to date on which way the situation is going so that you can continue to pray specifically and not just generally.

Send her a Testimony:

Your friend needs to be encouraged, she needs to be uplifted, and she needs to know that God is working in her favor. Sending her a testimony can do all of these things and more. We know that the Bible says that God is no respecter of persons. What He has done for one, He will do for another. You may have had another friend who has gone through the very same thing, or something similar, and they lived to have a great testimony. Share this with your friend. A good way to keep note of all of the testimonies and miracles that God has done is to write them in a journal. I LOVE writing in a journal. When I have gone through some of my hardest times in life, I would journal my thoughts, write scriptures and then journal how God brought me through.

If you would like to keep note of what God is doing and keep note of when friends ask you to pray, I encourage you to get this Prayer Journal Guide. It’s not only visually beautiful, but it is something that you can pray over time and time again. It’s something that you can look back on and say “I saw God do it once, and I’ll see Him do it again”.

Send her scriptures through the trial:

Once again, this is letting your friend know that she is on your mind. Sending her a scripture can increase her faith tremendously. I know. I’ve been on the receiving end of that and I know the impact that it makes. Ask God what He wants her to know on that particular day. She could be so clouded with thoughts of worry and anxiety that she doesn’t find that scripture for herself. Allow God to use you through this.

Celebrate with her when God handles the situation:

This doesn’t mean that you have to be in her business at all times and therefore know just when the trial ends. Most likely she will come to you with a Praise Report. Rejoice with her! Let her know by your actions that you truly invested time and prayer in the situation. You don’t have to do a shout-down, but a hug and an exuberant “Thank You, Jesus!” goes a long way.

Let’s do what the Bible calls us to do and build each other up. Let’s pray for one another. Let’s show our love to one another. It doesn’t take much to ask a friend how she is doing in a certain situation, send a testimony, send a scripture and rejoice with her.

And if you’d like to make her smile, you can get this Prayer Journal Guide for her to help her journal her thoughts through the trial.

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