How to Increase the Power of Your Prayers by Connecting with Other Christians
The power of praying together with other Christians increases the power of your prayers. The Bible tells us that praying together brings results! You don’t need to be in a large group to strengthen the power of your prayers. You can pray with a prayer partner or a few other people.
Here are the top fifteen ideas for you of how to pray together with other Christians.
Join with two or more and Jesus promises to be present
When you are using the power of praying together with others Jesus gives us this incredible promise: “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20 NIV)
This is a mystery that I don’t really understand and yet I have personally experienced it to be true. Jesus gave us this promise during his earthly ministry before his death and resurrection. He wanted us to understand that when we are in the company of other Christians it allows us to experience Christ’s presence in a way that isn’t possible when we are alone.
Harness the power of agreement when using the power of praying together with others
Jesus tells us, “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 18:19 NIV)
Of course this doesn’t mean that praying together is a magic formula for getting exactly what we want when we pray. It points out the principle of praying in “one accord” which means being united and of a single mindset among individuals who are open to the leading of God’s spirit.
When Christians gather they are able to pray together long enough and hard enough until the group receives the feeling that they have found and prayed God’s will. They have discovered the next step God desires them to take. Or they feel that the matter is now in God’s hands and no matter what happens next, God will see them through.
Find a prayer mentor
If you want to learn how to do anything, you usually find someone who knows how to do it well. You want someone has experience and wisdom. You want to learn from their example and expertise.
When Jesus’ disciples observed the effectiveness of his prayers they asked him, “Lord, teach us to pray.” (Luke 11:1) Jesus was their prayer mentor and taught them what is known as the Lord’s Prayer or the Our Father.
Everyone needs mentors. The best way to find a prayer mentor is to get to know other Christians. You might discover a prayer mentor in your own family, such as a praying grandmother. You will discover those who have good prayer habits have confidence that God hears them when they pray.
Find a prayer partner to enjoy the power of praying together
A prayer partnership is simply two people who share their lives with each other and use the power of praying together. Prayer partners pray with each other or to pray for each other.
A prayer partnerships can be short or long term.
During a life problem. For instance, a prayer partnership might last during a life situation that eventually stabilizes, such as two people praying together when one of them is going through a divorce.
Long term similar life situations. A long term prayer partnership might be among parents with children with similar handicaps praying together for years.
Praying for causes or groups. Prayer partnerships can also be formed as a means of praying for larger causes, such as our schools, our nation or our world.
All topics A prayer partnership can be formed as a means of praying together on any and all subjects that the Holy Spirit brings to mind. As an example, with one prayer partner I had we met so we could pray for our church together.
Receive reassurances and directions from God when someone is praying for you.
When you are praying with others the Holy Spirit is able to work in ways that go well beyond the normal human abilities to give advice or offer guidance.
Often when you bring a need before a prayer group, someone prays for you in a way that feels like God was giving that person special insight into your situation.
As an example, a woman I know asked for prayer for her daughter’s hearing problems. Someone in the group also prayed about the daughter’s feelings of not fitting in with others. This was something that the woman hadn’t shared with anyone in the group. It made the woman feel like God knew, saw and cared very personally for her and her daughter.
Through the power of praying together learn new ways to pray
When you pray together with others, you can learn about and try out new ways to pray.
There are a huge variety of ways and means of prayer, and it’s important to find the ones that suit your personality, your current life needs and your schedule.
For instance, in one group I tried out meditating using art and found I really liked it and used it during a trip to Europe. At a retreat center I used a prayer labyrinth. And with a small group I learned a healing prayer technique where you lay hands on the ill person and pray in silence together.
Feel the healing arms of God around you through the nearness of others
One of the biggest struggles in life is feeling isolated, alone and feeling like no one else understands you or what you’re going through. We were created to give and receive love and when it’s missing, we can’t thrive and survive.
Praying with others can overcome your feelings of isolation by bringing you into God’s family of caring people. The power of praying together can use the element of human touch. Others might hold your hand during prayer. They might put their arm around our shoulder. They might hug you after prayer.
The presence of others combined with prayer is divinely powerful and helps u s feel God’s love in very real and tangible ways.
The power of praying together isn’t limited by geography
Praying together can transcend space and time. An example in the Bible is St. Paul. He traveled the world converting people and planting churches. Ephesians 3:1 4- 21 is a prayer Paul prayed for the church in Ephesus, Turkey while he was hundreds of miles away in prison in Rome.
Today’s technology enables us to be in touch in prayer without having to be physically present with each other. You might use the power of praying together pray on the phone, in an online hang out or through text messages.
Another way to pray together is by setting aside an appointed time when you and your friend will both stop and pray for the same thing. As an example, one group has started Silent Minute prayers for peace. Those interested pray for a moment nightly at 9 PM for peace anywhere in the world war is going on.
Receiving prayer powerwhen you can’t pray for yourself.
There are times in our lives when it‘s difficult or impossible to pray for ourselves. The power of praying together with others can be used when another person prays with you and for you when you are unable to pray.
Some examples of times when you might need someone else to be praying for you when you are:
ill or hospitalized
exhausted by a crisis
depressed and feeling like God is far away
feeling unworthy or guilty
fearful or discouraged
Developing a sense of perspective.
If we only pray alone, sometimes our prayers can become self –involved and very narrowly focused. We only see our own needs, challenges and problems. Praying with others opens our eyes to the bigger picture of God’s Kingdom instead us seeing just our own little broken world.
Being part of a Christian group also increases our knowledge of what the Bible says about all aspects of our physical, social and spiritual lives.
Knowing what’s in the Bible and being able to apply it to your life and your prayers is absolutely essential and is something that can be learned from others.
Seeing more answers to prayer
When you pray alone, often it doesn’t seem like that anything has changed and God hasn’t answered your prayers. You might become discouraged and eventually you might stop praying.
Joining with other Christians gives you a chance to how God responded to their prayers. In prayer groups and small groups you will hear updates on the group requests. This helps you see the great variety of ways God works in our lives to help us in our times of need.
Sometimes you will hear a report of a miraculous recovery. More often you’ll hear of steady improvements. Or you might hear about how God guided someone in a new direction.
Even when situations don’t improve, you can see improvements in people’s outlook. They may have a sense of peace, hope or strength.
Adding more regularity to your prayers by being in a prayer group
The power of praying together is a great way to develop more regular prayer habits. A prayer meeting puts a specific time and place on your calendar for prayer.
Creating a deeper sense of connection
There’s a huge difference between talking over your problems or dreams and praying with someone about them.
When you hear someone pray for the most important things going on in your life, you feel helped and accepted. Praying with others breaks down barriers and helps us be more truthful with each other.
Creating prayer power to cover world issues
There are many things that none of us can cover on our own when praying.
Personal examples include unemployment, divorce, grief, trauma, wayward family members and illness to name a few.
Community or worldwide examples include terrorism, environmental concerns, discrimination, economic problems, moral issues and injustice.
Prayer groups can be organized specifically for big personal issues or global concerns.
As an example, a member of our church became motivated to organize a once a week prayer drop-in at our church during a time of escalating concerns about terrorism and violence. Although attendees had been praying about this by themselves, when they met to pray their differing perspectives covered the subject in a more detailed way.
Finding accountability in prayer
Praying together can help us stay on track with our prayer habits and our prayer requests. Group members learn to know and trust each other. Sometimes they challenge each other with good questions such as “Have you prayed about it?” “Are you keeping up with regular prayer times?”
There’s more weight to questions if someone else asks us. They cause us to evaluate how we’ve been approaching things and how we might need to improve.
My personal tips and experiences with the power of praying together
Uncomfortable praying out loud
Many don’t experience the power of praying together because they feel uncomfortable praying out loud. Surveys show that only about 12% of praying people regularly pray out loud at a prayer group. That means the other 88% of us don’t pray out loud with others often or at all.
Don’t let this keep you from joining with other Christians. Praying together doesn’t require you to say an eloquent prayer out loud in front of the group.
For instance, in many churches prayers like the Lord’s Prayer are said out loud in unison. This is a good way to pray together in accord with others.
Also, many churches have small sharing groups, Bible studies, men’s and women’s groups and life groups. Small groups are all about growing together. They might meet in a home and include refreshments and a short study time. Most feature a time of sharing prayer requests, where everyone gets a turn to tell about something for which they need prayer. They then cover these requests in a variety of ways.
In some groups, one person who’s OK with praying out loud might pray for all of the requests. Other times the group members might simply write down the requests and pray for them later at home in their personal prayer times. And in others, they might have an open prayer time where anyone who feels led might say a prayer out loud.
No request is too small or too big for praying together
My personal motto is that if it matters to you and if you need God’s help with something, it‘s the perfect subject for a prayer request. Sometimes in a group others might share really tough and serious things, like cancer diagnosis or unemployment or a family crisis. It can give the impression that what’s on our hearts and minds isn’t as big or important enough to bother others with.
The Bible says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4: 8 NIV)
Confidentiality.
Joining together with other Christians for prayer doesn’t mean that you need to completely lose your privacy.
I had a really bad situation in my life that involved a family member. In order to protect their privacy, I made general requests to prayer groups. I then found one woman who had gone through the same thing and we became prayer partners. I felt comfortable sharing everything with her because I knew she’d been there herself. I also went to members of our church staff for private prayer during this time.
Other helpful articles
Increasing the power of your prayers by getting to know Jesus personally
How to use the Bible to increase prayer power
How to develop regular prayer times
Finding ways of praying that work for you
Copyright Karen Barber 2016. All rights reserved.