DO YOU CRAVE CLOSE FRIENDSHIP? Maybe you feel alone, discouraged, or like you have too much to carry on your own. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you had someone who would consistently pray for you and encourage you? One of the most encouraging and enriching friendships you can have is a prayer partner. How can you find one?
Start praying that God will bring you someone to pray with on a regular basis. Ask Him for a safe, confidential, faithful person as a prayer partner. As God leads you to someone who might be a good option, start by just asking if the person would be willing to pray with you once a week.
You can meet in person or pray together over the phone. If the commitment seems overwhelming because the timeframe is indefinite, you could ask if they might be willing to pray with you for a month, or a quarter, or the rest of the year. If your time is limited, maybe commit to praying together once a week during your lunch hour or over the phone after dropping your kids off at school.
When you get together, spend some time catching up and connecting with each other, but be sure to leave plenty of time to pray. Too often all the time is spent talking, and we run out of time for the most essential thing—prayer.
If you’ve never prayed with this person before, you might want to suggest praying short prayers back and forth for the duration of your time (instead of each of you praying one long prayer). This method makes the time more interesting and allows you to agree with each other in prayer and to pray for more concerns as they come to mind.
Start your prayer time with praise and thanksgiving, then move into praying for each other and the things that concern you. Take time to pray for your ministry and the needs of your church. You will be excited and encouraged to see the answers to prayer as you continue to meet and pray together. You might be surprised also by the close
friendship that develops as you pray with your prayer partner.
Even when you aren’t meeting to pray, make it your practice to send an encouraging text message to share a Bible promise or let the person know you are praying for them. Your prayer partner will likely become a priceless treasure!
