Becky lives in Texas with her husband and two sons. She is passionate about supporting people in drawing nearer to Christ using Scripture, prayer, and journaling.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission from purchased products at no additional cost to you.
Use these tips on how to pray with someone to gain the confidence to pray with a person out loud 1-on-1 or even lead a group prayer.
Praying with someone can feel awkward and nerve-wracking, but it doesn’t have to be!
When you worry about how you sound or what the other person is thinking, it only keeps your eyes on yourself. Instead, shift your eyes to the Lord and lift up the person in front of you before Him in love and trust.
Here are some tips for how to pray with someone, specifically in 1-on-1 scenarios. When you apply these things when you pray with someone, your experience will go from being awkward and worrisome to being spiritually encouraging.
9 Tips On How To Pray With Someone
1. Ask how you can pray for them.
The first thing that you can do when praying with someone 1-on-1 is to specifically ask them how you can pray for them. Everyone has things going on in their lives that they need prayer for, so just ask the person that you are sitting down with how you can best pray for them in their present situation.
As they share with you how you can best pray for them, remember to actively listen well and respond with compassion. Depending on how much they share, they will be putting themselves in a vulnerable position, so be sure to respond with love and truly listen to what they have to say.
2. Gauge their level of comfort.
Everyone has different styles of praying when it comes to praying with someone 1-on-1. Some people like to place their hand on the person’s shoulder, some like to hold their hand; others just like to sit next to them.
Before you start praying for someone, know what you are comfortable with and have an idea in your mind as to how you want to position yourself for prayer with this person.
However, you also need to ask for the other person’s permission if you want to place a hand on their shoulder or interact with them physically while you pray. All you need to do is ask and they will let you know.
3. Use their words in your prayer.
A great way to make a prayer personal to someone is to use the words that the person used when describing their prayer requests. If they specifically asked you to pray for “peace” or “comfort,” try to use those specific words in your prayer.
Not only does this make the person feel as though you were truly listening, but it also lessens the load on your shoulders. You don’t need to make up any sort of fancy speech or eloquent words when you’re praying for this person. Just use the words that they used in your own prayer.
4. Include any related Bible verses that come to mind.
One tip that often goes overlooked when it comes to praying is to use Bible verses and phrases to supplement your prayer. Since God’s Word is truth and it is God’s own words to us, we can pray those words back to him. They hold power and comfort for both us and those that we pray for.
If you can think of any Bible verses that are related to what the person you are praying for has mentioned, use them in your prayer. These not only will hold power in your prayer but can also be things that the person looks to afterward for more comfort from God’s Word.
5. Remember Romans 8:26.
As you pray with people, remember Romans 8:26. It says, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”
Even when we don’t know what to pray, we can be confident that the Spirit will pray through us and intercede for us. Trust in the fact that when you pray with and for others, it isn’t about your words in and of themselves.
It’s about the Holy Spirit inside of you that takes what you mean to heart, regardless of the words that you use.
6. Allow space for silence.
Although we often feel that silence needs to be filled, especially when it comes to prayer, silence can also play an important role when we pray with others.
It doesn’t always have to feel uncomfortable. Instead, silence can allow the person that you are praying for to process what has been said, feel their own emotional response to the prayer and God’s presence, and listen for God’s voice in the quiet. It also can give you time to gather your thoughts and prepare for what you would like to say next.
Don’t always feel the need to fill silence. Instead, use it as a tool when you pray with others.
How To Lead A Group Prayer
Another situation that often arises when praying for and with others is when you have to lead a group prayer. These can be a little tricky when there are so many people involved, but, like the 1-on-1 prayer, they don’t have to be uncomfortable or daunting.
Here are some tips on how to lead a group prayer effectively.
1. Ask for prayer requests, if you’d like.
Asking for prayer requests within a group can get a bit out of hand, especially if you have more than just a few people. When you’re leading the prayer, you’ll have to read the room and the people who are around to see if you should ask for requests.
However, even if you do ask for requests, you can always jump in and help someone summarize their request if your time together is running out. Don’t be afraid to step in as the leader and take control of the flow.
2. Decide how you want to structure your prayer and communicate that to the group clearly.
Another important thing that you should consider when leading a group prayer is how you want to structure the prayer. Will you be praying out loud by yourself? Will you open the prayer and ask someone else to close? Will you go around the circle and pray? Or will you be doing a “popcorn” style prayer where people jump in and pray when they feel led to?
Regardless of which style you choose, be sure to choose one and communicate it clearly to the group so that they know what to do and what to expect.
3. Honor the group’s time.
If you have a specific time that you are supposed to end your group, do your best to cater your prayer to end on time. If you need to, summarize the prayer requests that people offered and also encourage the group to pray for them in their own time as well.
You can also think about this beforehand and be sure to get to the group’s prayer time at a certain point so that you have enough time to pray without rushing.
4. Use the words from their prayer requests.
When you pray for people’s prayer requests in a group, be sure to use the words that they used when describing their requests in the first place. Don’t feel pressure to embellish or expand upon what someone requested. You can simply use the same words that they used when you pray for that person’s request.
This not only makes praying a lot simpler for you as a leader, but it also makes it more personal for the person that you’re praying for. It shows that you were truly listening when they talked about their prayer requests and that you took them to heart.
As a bonus tip, be sure to listen when the prayer requests are offered. You can even write them down or note them down so that you don’t have to feel the pressure to remember them all. This especially is true in a group setting.
5. Speak clearly and loud enough so that everyone can hear.
When you’re praying in a group, be sure that you speak clearly and loud enough so that everyone can hear. Praying in a group is a special experience and everyone wants to be able to hear what is being prayed for so that they can join in their spirit and affirm what you’re saying. If they can’t hear you, they aren’t able to do that.
If you normally speak softly, you may need to increase your volume by a few notches so that everyone can hear you. Just take it slow, speak clearly, and try to be loud enough for everyone.
6. Use conversational language.
Lastly, be sure to use simple, conversational language when you pray with others. Sometimes, there is pressure to sound a certain way, to pray a certain way, or to use certain words, but these things have no impact on the power of your prayer.
Instead, keep it simple and use conversational language when you pray, just like you would when talking to a friend. This also ensures that everyone can understand you as you pray and join in affirming what you’re saying. Don’t feel pressure to sound “fancy” or “more holy,” just pray what you mean and mean what you pray. Keep it simple, heartfelt, and conversational.