Editor’s Note: Joel Renner is the CEO of RENNER Ministries. Alongside his father, Joel has actively participated for many years in nearly every facet of the daily operations of the ministry. Joel resides in Moscow, Russia, with his wife and two sons.

How to Pray For Anything

Sometimes I hear people ask, “How do I pray for my wife, kids, boss, job, needs, etc.?” You can probably fill in the blank with several things, but no matter what you are praying about, the best answer I know to give is to pray from Scripture.

When we pray according to Scripture, it ensures that we are praying in agreement with God’s will. And if we still don’t know how to pray, we need to pray in the spirit.

The Bible says in Romans 8:26, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

So when we don’t know how to pray — and that can happen at times — we can pray in the spirit and let the Holy Spirit intercede for us. Wow! We should pray that way more often because the prayer of the Holy Spirit is the perfect prayer!

But when we do know what the Bible says about what we wish to pray for, we should use Scripture to pray. For example, if you want to pray for those in leadership, you could pray what the Bible says in Proverbs 21:1, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.”

Based on this verse, I have often prayed, “Lord, You said that the heart of a king is in Your hand. Lord, please direct him to do righteous deeds.”

When we pray in words that other people understand, it also allows them to add their faith to ours. We know this from Matthew 18:19, which says, “…That if two of you shall agree as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.” So praying in agreement is a very important thing.

If you don’t know how to pray, pray in the spirit. However, you should also study the Scriptures in order to bring your prayers into alignment with the Bible and allow other people to stand in agreement with you while you pray.

God bless,

Joel Renner