How Should We Pray for Ourselves?
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We pray for our nation, our communities, our churches, family, and friends. We pray for our spouses and especially our children. But when it comes to praying for ourselves, some may find this very challenging, and may resort to just focusing on superficial or not-as-essential things.
It’s easy to pray to land that great job, find that perfect spouse, or even to win the lottery. However, do we pray for patience or grace or forgiveness of others, which may or may not line up with things that we want? Probably not.
Before you start ridiculing yourself about your own personal prayer requests, remember that you are not alone in this struggle. Within the pages of the Bible are countless individuals who battled with praying for themselves, and it was usually because God wanted them to pray for inner changes they needed to make first before blessings came forth.
If you struggle with praying for yourself – whether in not knowing what to pray or how to pray for yourself – may these insights give clarity into this precious time with God.
Pray in Secret
For people who really want to know how to pray for the things that matter – especially things or situations they themselves are facing – Jesus advises them to go to God away from others.
In Matthew 6:5-7, Jesus shares with His disciples that they shouldn’t pray “as hypocrites do” by going out in public and praying so others can admire them or see them as holy. For prayers that really matter to God, especially those concerning ourselves, Jesus reminds us that we shouldn’t boast to others of our prayers, whether for sympathy or for praise. We should pray in secret to God as our true prayers and intentions of the heart will be revealed to the Lord in this manner.
As the rest of verse six states, the Lord who sees how you pray in secret will reward you for this humiliation displayed before Him. He sees you for who you are inside and knows when you pray in secret to Him, it is a heartfelt prayer meant only for Him to hear and answer.
Pray with Deepness
Sometimes it is easy to pray for ourselves when we are going through a situation or challenge of some kind. When you are experiencing illness or needing a new job, you can find yourself easily lowering your head and asking for God’s help during this time.
But what God wants us to strive for most when praying for ourselves is to look deep inside and see where we need Him to help us change. It is taking a hard look at yourself and wanting to know how you can keep growing and developing as His child. It is closing your eyes in prayer and asking God for patience to deal with a difficult family member; it is dropping to your knees in prayer to ask for the ability to forgive someone when you find it impossible to do. It is taking the time to admit to God that you are struggling with something (and we are all struggling with something) and praying for His grace to fill our hearts and sooth our souls.
This deepness is utilizing prayer the way God intended, with us coming to the Lord exposed and asking Him to love us and help us when others wouldn’t (and maybe when we couldn’t help ourselves).
Pray with an Eye to the Future, on Earth and Eternally
Yes, we can pray for situations happening in our lives now, as God wants us to come to Him with whatever is on our hearts. We are even encouraged by the apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray without ceasing,” meaning we must always be praying for all of our needs and those of others.
However, praying for ourselves must not be just focused on handling circumstances ahead on earth, but also circumstances ahead eternally. Prayers can definitely be focused on relationships or situations happening right now in our lives, praying for future results or events to happen, but we must also pray for what is ahead in God’s eternal plan.
Praying to be vigilant in our faith as difficulties in this fallen world become more extreme or praying to be ready for when Jesus returns are meaningful prayers we can express to God that allow us to remain focused on the present, future, and eternal future. It epitomizes Paul’s verse about praying without stopping, for we should always be in a state of prayer.
Examples of Prayer Warriors in the Bible
If you need a role model when it comes to praying genuine prayers of faith for yourself, there are several biblical examples, both men and women.
When it comes to role models of prayer, King David is one who regularly comes to mind. His prayers to God were very raw and wholehearted, captured well in the book of Psalms. King David revealed several vulnerabilities in the prayers he spoke and wrote to the Lord, recounting his struggles and how he believed God would, and did, help him.
Leah, in Genesis 29, was the first wife of Jacob and witnessed Jacob’s fight with her father over the hand of her younger sister Rachel. As she gave birth to multiple children, she gave each of them names that reflected the prayers she was sending to God in her sorrow, and how He had answered them in the form of her children.
Hannah, in 1 Samuel 1 and 2, is one of my favorite examples of a prayer warrior in the Bible. She took her prayers for a child to the Lord regularly, praying so fervently that the priest at the temple thought she was inebriated. However, she emptied her heart to God of her desires for a child, and the Lord rewarded her faith because of it.
Lastly, we look to the prayers of our Savior, Jesus Christ, as we read of Jesus praying so intensely in the Garden of Gethsemane that He sweat blood. He prayed for Himself by asking God to take the suffering of being forsaken and His impending death away. But Jesus also peacefully realized that this had to occur in order for God’s will to be done (Matthew 26:39).
These prayer warriors remind us that when we take our deepest concerns to the Lord, not only does He hear everything that we say (and what we may not say) but He also knows our hearts and when His guidance and love is needed to help us prosper.
Praying for ourselves can be a daunting task if we don’t typically take the time to send our prayers up to God. But realize that just as He wants to know when you ask for blessings for other people, He wants to provide the same for you.
Keep in mind that praying for ourselves shouldn’t be seeing God as a genie to grant our requests, but as a loving father wanting the best for His children’s development. By being willing to give God our all in prayer, believing He can and will help our lives, we will be amazed at His love and provision for us.
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Tinnakorn Jorruang
