To celebrate National Day of Prayer, we’re inviting you to participate in these ten ways to pray for your friends.
It is one of God’s beautiful gifts to bless our lives with friendships. I love to picture the friends in my life like a garden of flowers of all different colors, in varying types and blooming at just the right time.
As I reflect on the friends God has given me over the years, I love that just like flowers, our friends can fall into several meaningful categories. I think of lifelong friends that, despite time and distance, remain dear. We can have friendships that are seasonal, those we may have connected with as we shared our kids’ school or activities. We have work and ministry friends, church friends, neighbors who are friends, new friends, couple friends, and those we consider our best friends.
I love my friends and think of myself as a good friend, but I have to work at it. As I have been reading through the 2026 Know His Word Scripture reading plan that focuses on friendships and relationships throughout the Bible, the Lord has been so kind to show me areas in my own life and in the lives of my friends where I can be more intentional and sensitive to how I’m praying for them. I have been that friend who says, “I’ll pray for you” and then forgets. What has shifted for me is paying attention as I walk alongside my friends. God faithfully brings them to mind as I pursue the rhythm of being in His Word and in prayer every day. The Bible is full of so many passages, but maybe some of these ideas can help spur you on as you pray for your friends!
1. Pray for the salvation of your friends.
In every group of friends, there might be some who do not have a saving relationship with Jesus.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 1 Peter 1:3
2. Pray for your friends to grow in their faith and in their relationship with Jesus.
“So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him, being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude.” Colossians 2:6-7
3. Ask God to help their lives and families to flourish.
“The person who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence indeed is the LORD, is blessed. He will be like a tree planted by water: it sends its roots out toward a stream, it doesn’t fear when heat comes, and its foliage remains green. It will not worry in a year of drought or cease producing fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8
4. Pray for our friends to grasp the greatness and power of the Lord.
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the mighty working of his strength.” Ephesians 1:18-19
5. Ask God to fill them with hope, especially in times of discouragement.
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
6. Pray for them to be filled with God’s wisdom.
“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without pretense.” James 3:17
7. For friends who are walking through trials, pray for their endurance and strength.
“But those who trust in the LORD will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:31
8. Pray for protection and deliverance.
Especially for friends whose children may be walking through dark and difficult days, I love to pray the entirety of Psalm 91.
“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’ He will cover you with his feathers; and under his wings you find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.”
Psalm 91:1-2,4 (NIV)
9. For friends who are in a season of waiting or uncertainty, pray for God to meet them in the process.
“Trust in the LORD and do what is good; dwell in the land and live securely. Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart’s desires … Be silent before the LORD and wait expectantly for him …” Psalm 37:3-4,7a
10. Always pray with gratitude for your friends.
Paul expressed this in so many of his letters.
“I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.” Ephesians 1:16
In recent weeks I have been reminded of the beautiful garden of friendships that has enriched my life as I have celebrated the joy of weddings and new babies, prayed for those who are walking through great loss and difficult days, and offered prayers of encouragement for weary friends. The garden of friends that grows over the years of our lives is a blessing. Sweet friendships, like beautiful flowers, bloom and thrive as we nurture and tend to each one through our prayers.
For more examples on how to pray, check out the When You Pray Bible study and 10 Ways to Pray For Your Small Group.
About Shari Edwards
Shari has been active in Women’s Ministry leadership for over 25 years and currently serves as a Lifeway Women Trainer. She is the Women’s Ministry Network Coordinator for Arkansas Baptist Women and holds a BA in Journalism and Public Relations and a Certificate in Women’s Ministry from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Shari is a wife of 38 years to her college sweetheart, mother of 3 sons and a beautiful daughter-in-law. She is also “Sibby” to 3 precious young granddaughters. She resides in North Little Rock, Arkansas, where she has been a member of Park Hill Baptist Church for 32 years. She leads a moms group at her church and also co-teaches a high school girls small group. Shari loves to encourage women in their everyday and leadership lives, as well as through speaking and writing opportunities.
