This question wasn’t asked directly of the pastors, but I believe it’s something we could all use some instruction in.

We pray for one another every week at small group, and yet when it comes around to me, I’m often unsure what to ask for prayer for. I’m sure I’m not alone. I’d like to encourage us all to think ahead of time, and discuss with our family ahead of time, before we get asked, how we might like our brothers and sisters to pray for us.

Physical Requests

It’s relatively easy to come up with the latest physical need—sickness, injury, car problems—and we should pray for those things. But even when we pray for such things, our prayers should be spiritual in nature, as well as physical. Here are a few questions to ask yourself that can help press physical requests into the spiritual realm:

Why would you like God to fix this particular problem?

Is it so that you can serve Him better in some way? How would being healthy, mobile, or unencumbered by a broken furnace help you to accomplish God’s will?

Would you like God to keep you from some harm or misfortune so that you won’t be tempted to sin against Him?

Give me neither poverty nor riches;

Feed me with the food that is my portion,

That I not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the Lord?”

Or that I not be in want and steal,

And profane the name of my God.

(Prov. 30:8–9)

Would you like to be healed so that you can proclaim the glory of God in your healing?

So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. (Matt. 15:31)

As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him. (John 9:1–3)

Of course, we may find as we ask those questions that our desire for blessing isn’t really driven by such spiritual desires. What should we do then? For one, we could ask for prayer that God would increase our desire to please Him. We might also ask ourselves this question:

What spiritual good would you like to see God accomplish in your life even as you suffer?

We also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Rom. 5:3–5)

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Cor. 4:16–18)

Other Questions

Here are some other questions based on a scriptural understanding of our needs that might help you figure out what to ask others to pray for:

What, specifically, are you anxious about right now? (Where do you need God’s peace?)

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:6–7)

What, specifically, would you like to thank God for and ask others to rejoice with you in?

Let us not neglect giving thanks for God’s favorable answers to our prayers, even as we bring our requests:

…in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God… (Phil. 4:6)

What woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!” In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. (Luke 15:8–10)

What, specifically, do you need wisdom for right now?

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (James 1:5)

What specific sin do you need to confess right now?

Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. (James 5:16)

Humble Yourself

Asking for prayer is always humbling. To do so is to acknowledge that you are weak, insufficient, or sinful in some way. It is to acknowledge that you need something from God. Let us humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, and in the presence of one another, as we ask for prayer.