How To Take a Day of Prayer with a Friend

One of the greatest ways to build deeper connections with friends is to spend time praying together.

I wrote about finding your prayer people in Cultivating Deeper Connections in a Lonely World. One of my prayer people is my friend Judy. We’ve known each other for years and have often prayed together.

This past week, Judy and I decided to spend a morning in prayer together. It was a half-day of prayer because we both had commitments in the afternoon. What a sweet time we had! We spent time praising God, sharing prayer requests, praying for each other, walking, hiking, and reading Scripture together. I left my time with her feeling uplifted, encouraged, and less stressed. I highly recommend taking a day of prayer with a friend.

For some of you, you might take a half-day of prayer like Judy and I did. For those of you with kids at home, you might take what I call “a school day” of prayer together. For those who have more time, you might even do a day and night together. However you do it, I can’t stress enough how fulfilling it is!

There are many ways to divide up your day, but here are just a few suggestions.

How To Take a Day of Prayer with a Friend:

Spend time together praising God. Judy and I did this by a beautiful pond tucked in Garden of the Gods Park. We put on worship music and just praised God for the glory of who He is. It was amazing because when we started the worship music, a group of ducks came over, and some of them literally raised their wings and danced in the water. It reminded me of the Scripture that says that all of creation praises the Lord.

Read a Psalm or another portion of Scripture. Judy and I used Psalm 63 in our time. It is such a beautiful portion of Scripture that we both love. However, other great passages to use are John 15, Ephesians 3, Psalm 91, or Psalm 46.

Share your reflections on the Scripture. After you read the Scripture out loud, take turns sharing your reflections on the passage. God can use Scripture in a variety of ways in believers’ lives. The Holy Spirit can use a portion to speak to one person in a completely different way than He uses it in another’s life. The joy comes in listening to how the Holy Spirit is speaking to each of you as individuals.

Answer the following questions:

• What is the greatest challenge you are facing in this season?
• What do you feel God is speaking to you lately?
• What concerns do you have for your family?

Spend time in prayer for each other. Pray specifically.

Take a walk or hike together and take turns telling each other your hopes and dreams. Brainstorm together what it might take to see those dreams come true.

End your time together with blessing and gratitude. Each of you can pray a prayer of gratitude for your friendship and for the blessing of doing life together. You might borrow the words of Moses in Numbers 6:24–26: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Ah, what a beautiful prayer to pray for our friends!

Try taking a day of prayer with a friend soon, and I’d love to hear how that goes for you.

This week on The Connected Mom Podcast, we’re talking with prolific author Tricia Goyer about praying Scripture over your kids. No matter what season of motherhood you are in, you don’t want to miss this conversation!

Coming this February: Friend-Wise. I am super excited about this little book that is filled with practical ideas for strengthening your friendships in every context. You can pre-order your copy now!