by Rick Warren

“You are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers for our safety.” (2 Corinthians 1:11 NLT)

To get through what you’re going through, you need to recruit other people to pray for you.

This is very easy when you’re in a small group. When you’re going through a tough time and you’re not in a small group, you are unprotected. You don’t have the strength that people in a small group do because you don’t have people praying for you.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 1:11, “You are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers for our safety” (NLT).

I’ll be honest with you: I don’t know how this works. But there is additional power in group prayer that is not there when you just pray for yourself. There is more power in group prayer than in the single power of you praying for yourself.

The Bible says, “If any two agree as touching anything it shall be done” and “Where two or more are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

You need that power to get through what you’re going through. That’s why you need to be in a small group. That’s why you need to ask them to pray for you.

The Bible says in Galatians 6:2, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ”(NIV). What is the law of Christ? “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  When you pray for other people, you are loving your neighbor as yourself. When they pray for you, they are loving you as themselves.

Talk It Over

  • Who are the people in your life you can go to with your prayer requests and trust that they will pray for you?
  • How have you seen God provide for you through the prayers of a group of people?
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