Verse #2: Never try to teach people you have not prayed for

As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.  1 Samuel 12:23 (NIV2011)

One of the first thing I did when I became pastor was to take pictures of everyone in my small congregation and have them printed onto coffee mugs. Then, each morning as I had my Quiet Time and sipped coffee, I would think about and pray for the people I serve.

Pray for people not yet in your group. J. Sidlow Baxter pointed out that our loved ones may, “spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers.”

Praying well assumes that you know them well. If you do not know your people well, you will not know what to pray for. Verse #2 in this series assumes you have done verse #1.

In my prayer time, I often wander in my mind around our auditorium. I think about the people who sit in each chair. I think about their needs. If I can’t think of any needs, I pray a biblical prayer, like this one in Ephesians 1:

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength Ephesians 1:17–19 (NIV2011)