A dear friend of mine found herself in need of recovery. 

Uniting together with like-minded others, she began to work through those things that had bound her. 

On the sidelines, I prayed.

At first, I prayed fervently for her. 

For her needs, for what God wanted to speak to her.

And for deliverance from her fears, anxieties, and chains.

And then I was told to think bigger.

God began to speak to me also about those surrounding her. 

I was challenged to widen my view to see further than just the one I knew.  He began to ask me to think more like Jesus and less like me.

To see the greater need. 

We are reminded of this in 1 Timothy 2:1 –

I urge you, first of all, to pray for ALL people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.

This changed the way I prayed.

It should change the way we all pray. 

Because, truth be told, we often think to pray for those we love.

But we can easily neglect to lift up the hurting around them. 

God challenges us to think bigger.

So I continued my prayers for my friend.  And I expanded them to include those alongside her.

Those she found in her circle who also needed God’s touch.

God showed me that, through this, my impact would be even greater.

Because lives touched around her would also touch my friend.

But not only that, lives touched around her would impact the Kingdom – especially when they are battle weary believers or those who yet need to meet Jesus.

Soon after the Think Bigger challenge, God led me to Jeremiah 31. 

I found it full of hope for the burdened soul.  And since so many of us are praying for the hurting, I thought I would pass it along to all of you.

I often pray scripture over others – taking Biblical truths that God has written for us already and declaring them back to him in faith. 

And so I offer you…… prayers formed from scriptures in Jeremiah 31, verses, 3, 9, 12, and 13 (NLT).  Scripture being stated in thank you or praise you form as a petition and declaration for the wounded and weary.

Maybe you will find these useful as you lift up a friend of your own.

• Thank you Lord, that you love these people with an everlasting love, and with that unfailing love, you will draw them to yourself.
• Thank you, Father, that tears of joy will stream down their faces.  And thank you that you will lead them home with great care.
• Praise you, God, that they will walk beside quiet streams and on smooth paths where they will not stumble.
• Thank you that their lives will be like a watered garden, and all their sorrows will be gone.
• Praise you God, that you will turn their mourning into joy.  That you will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing.

And thank you God, for Holy Scripture, that gives us words to pray that are sometimes far more specific than what we could come up with on our own.

Whether you choose to pray scripture, or whether you petition God with stated needs, he is listening.

Never underestimate what you can accomplish with a simple prayer.  Because James 5:16 promises:

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. 

And because your prayers can make a mark on this world that it desperately needs.

Pray for your loved ones, and pray also for those around them.

They may have no one else lifting them up but YOU.