Prayer is the act of bringing God into every situation and asking Him to change it from something natural into something supernatural so that He can get all the glory.
If you’re looking for a book on prayer that has specific ideas for ways to pray for others, this one by Joy Dawson would work. I wasn’t super impressed with it (it won’t be my go-to book on prayer), but several lists of scriptures and prayer suggestions inside it will keep me from re-selling it.
The chapters focus on specific skill sets about prayer, like, how intercession works; spiritual warfare; being prepared; and on different groups to pray for, such as, your spiritual leaders; those away from God; this generation; countries of the world; and more.
Joy also includes many personal examples from her own life on intercessory prayer and its results.
Some “how-to’s” on praying for friends going through trials:
Ask God:
1. For His miraculous intervention in the circumstances (Jeremiah 32:27)
2. To be glorified in their lives through conformity to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29)
3. To show what He wants US to learn through our friends’ trials, and give Him time to speak
4. To reveal our own hindrances to being effective with our friends
5. To stir our friends to ask Him “What are you trying to teach me?” and to persist in prayer until they know that God has spoken
6. To keep them from presuming upon His answers because of past experience or what others might say (Ps 19:13a)
7. To meet our friends' deepest needs and thank Him that He will
I’ve had this book on my shelf for a few years but had never read it. I’m glad I finally did. I’ll refer back to it as a reference book from time to time. It’s easy to read, and easy to scan over chapters that aren’t as pertinent for the moment.
But the best thing about this book isn’t what’s IN it, but the reminder OF it to p-r-a-y. Nothing substitutes for that. Here’s how Joy puts it:
As a general rule, let us adopt the slogan, “Don’t say it; pray it.” Talk to the One who can correct the problem.
