James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
1 Timothy 2:1-4
I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
Ephesians 6:18
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
Matthew 5:44
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
The Bible makes it clear that we need to pray. The above verses highlight four groups of people that we need to pray for:
In James 5:16, James tells us to confess our sins to each other and to pray for each other. I believe he was telling us to pray for our local body of Christians here. Those Believers that we are in contact with on a regular basis. Those followers of Jesus that we share life with. We are to pray for those we serve God with on a regular basis. It is the local body of believers that gives us our strength as a Christian. We need to be in continual prayer for those in our local faith community as we face trials, temptations, and the schemes of the evil one. Healing comes when we confess our sins to each other and pray for each other.
In 1 Timothy 2:1-4, we are told to pray for ALL people. We are also, told specifically to pray for kings and all those in authority. The Bible makes it clear that we are to pray for those placed in leadership positions. We are to pray for our leaders, so we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. The Bible makes it clear that we are to pray for ALL people. It doesn’t matter if we like them or not. It doesn’t matter if we agree with everything they believe. We are to pray for ALL people. God wants us to pray for ALL people, because He wants ALL people to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.
Ephesians 6:18 tells us to be alert and to keep on praying for ALL the Lord’s people. James 5:16 tells us to pray for our local body of believers, but in Ephesians 6:18 we are told to pray for ALL the Lord’s people. We are to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world who are faced with persecution and other challenges. We are only strong when we pray for one another.
Matthew 5:44 tells us to pray for those who persecute us. It is never easy to pray for someone who has set out to make your life a living Hell. Why should we pray for someone who has caused us pain? God says we must. God can soften the hearts of our enemies through our prayers, but more importantly, He is allowed access to OUR hearts when we choose to pray for those who hurt us.
I think God has made it clear that there isn’t any person or group of people that we shouldn’t be praying for. We are to pray for One Another.
Patti Burris 