Saying Short Prayer for Others

Here's my strategy when it comes to praying for others: I tend to say just one or two sentences when I pray for them.

I don't like saying long prayers for people. This might seem a bit strange to say outright given that I serve God as a pastor. Isn't praying for other people one of the main things I do? Now notice that I didn't say that I don't like to pray for other people. I certainly love to pray for them. In fact, I pray for people every single day. I just have trouble with having to say long prayers for them. And so, I simply choose not to (at least for now). I keep my prayers for other people quite short. And that's OK. Although I may spend hours in the presence of the Lord in prayer and contemplation each day, actually praying for other people takes up a very small amount of that time.

Here's my strategy when it comes to praying for others: I tend to say just one or two sentences when I pray for them. It's that short. My rationale is simple: praying a couple of lines for a person is certainly much better than not praying for them at all. How many times have we promised to pray for somebody and never actually end up doing so? I'm ashamed to say that I've done this plenty of times. But I want to do better. I want to actually pray for people when I promise to. Saying short prayers helps me to actually keep my promise to pray for people. I'm not pressured to have to say a long prayer, which can be demotivating at times.

Although I may say short prayers to God for people, I try to be as intentional and as meaningful as I can with those few words. When I'm praying for somebody, I will often pause first and think about that person and their situation in life. Then I'll say one or two intentional and meaningful lines of prayer for that person. If I know something specific to pray about for a person, I'll use that information in my prayer. And that's pretty much it—just one or two lines per person. I don't have to force myself to say a long prayer. Of course, if you feel that you should say long prayers for others, let no one stop you. And I do say long prayers for people from time to time. But normally, I say short prayers and this helps me stay motivated to actually continue praying for people. As an added bonus, this allows me to pray for multiple people each day as I have plenty of time to do so. I usually pray for around 10 people each day.

If you're having trouble praying for other people, start by saying short prayers for them instead of forcing yourself to do long ones. It's not about the length of the prayer. It's about the heart behind it. God will hear your prayer regardless if it's a short or long one. Just be intentional and meaningful as you go about praying for others.

Barnabas the Monastic

Servant of Christ. Husband. Dad. Modern Monastic. I have a wild ambition in life: get as close to the Lord Jesus Christ as I can while on earth. I explore and integrate ancient Christian monk wisdom in modern everyday life. Lives in Canada.