Praying Personally with Another

Praying Personally for Another

Some of the guidelines for praying for someone with whom you are talking face to face, or on the telephone, are these:

1. Trust that the love and energy of God is flowing through you.
2. Pay close attention to the person. Avoid distractions.
3. Usually holding their hands, when speaking the prayer, is a helpful connection.
4. Speak to God about the person’s concern or challenge. You are talking to God about what the person is experiencing and needing. For example: “Dear Lord, Barry is very worried about his son….”--- Open your prayer in whatever way you are used to beginning. Then present the person to God along with his central concern.
5. Use feeling words. That is, talk to God about how Barry is emotionally—“worried”, “fearful” “anxious” “sad” “lonely” etc. He may not tell you his feelings. You can usually guess after they describe what their prayer need centers on.
6. Use his name several times.
7. Limit the prayer to two or three minutes, maximum.
8. Conclude with a brief summary, in Jesus’ name.

Examples of Prayers:

For an aged person-“Thank you Lord for Brenda’s many years of life, and for how she has blessed those around her, with her kindness. She is now feeling alone and worried and insecure. Walk with her now in a special way so she knows she is loved and valued. Give her a strong sense of security and peace. May your arms embrace her and hold her, so her days and nights are comfortable and even joyful. Thank you Lord for caring for your precious child, Brenda. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

For someone very ill-“Lord Jesus Greta needs your healing presence today. She is worried and scared about the cancer recently identified. She needs your healing power to overcome this illness she is fighting. May your love and grace flow into her and restore her. Renew and strengthen her confidence, as she receives her medical treatment. May she trust that healing is happening, and the cancer is shrinking. May Greta feel your arms around her and your love healing her in the care she is receiving. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.


Prayer is More Than Words and Thoughts. It is Love Energy.

Prayer usually is active thinking and caring for another person. It can include picturing them in your mind, and even trying to feel their pain, when there is a trial or grief. At the very least we will be thinking of them and their need, when we pray for them.

Love is being given when we stand and pray with someone. Love is traveling from us to the one in need. And, Love is from God. God is Love, the Apostle John says, in I John 4:16. Our Love is God flowing through us into the other.

I like to think of that Love as energy. So our prayer, for someone, is sending Godly energy into them. Prayer is Love, and Godly energy, flowing from me and directly from God. That resource, that energy, has the power to heal and encourage; to restore and strengthen.

What Prayer Looks Like

I visualize prayer like an enormous triangle. The top peak is God, and the extreme bottom left point is the one speaking the prayer. The third, and remaining, point is the man or woman for whom a prayer is being said. Then I visualize the bottom two lines going out from the one offering prayer. One goes up to God. The other extends, on the horizontal level, to the one in need. I look up to God, and over to the one for whom the prayer is being spoken.
Love/Energy Flowing From God
I see two lines flowing from down God. One goes to the one being prayed for, the other goes back down to me, the pray-er. The line that goes to the one in need is God’s energy and love streaming to that person. The line that goes from God to me is God’s love and energy flowing back to the one in prayer. From there, from me, God’s love and energy goes out toward the target person, for whom supplication and intercession is being offered.
Flowing Through Me Too
The astounding part of this picture is God’s healing love flowing through me, the one doing the praying. The help doesn’t exclusively come down directly from God to the hurting person. It does, but it also comes straight through me, the one calling on God, for the needed help.
Visualize the Person
When praying for someone, if I am not in their presence, it is always helpful to conjure up a mental picture of him, or her. I see them in my mind. I think of them in such a way that I can visualize them rather clearly. This may then be multiplying the loving energy of God, that is flowing toward them. It streams directly from God, and also through me.