How Praying Together Strengthens Relationships

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Date: January 5, 2021

Speaker: Bonnie Sala | Series: Reset | Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  James 5:16

Do you ever pray aloud with other people? Unity and encouragement are two benefits of praying with, and for, others. When we pray with a friend (or even someone we just met) we invite one another into a conversation with God about our most honest thoughts and feelings.

You can respond to a request for prayer by praying with someone right then. Immediate prayer invites a friend into that sacred conversation and hopefully brings immediate encouragement. When your friend texts you, saying, “I’m feeling sad and overwhelmed,” you can share prayer by text right then: “Jesus, please comfort my friend as she grieves change and loss. I love her, but You love her more.” By including each other in prayer, we not only invoke God’s presence in our midst, but remind one another of the truth, hope and comfort found in Jesus.

Shared prayers are a bond. Consistent conversation with God brings us closer to Him, and consistent prayer for, and with our friends, keeps us aware of what’s most pressing in their lives. In Luke 11:5-10, Jesus likens consistent prayer to pounding on your friend’s door in the middle of the night until they finally get up to see what you need. We keep at it until we get help. We can even be part of the help that God might choose to send to our friends, because we are more aware of the help they need.  Are you willing to stop and pray with someone in need today?

Resource reading: James 5:13-18, Luke 11:1-13