The joy of prayer with the Lord
Prayer is our most intimate connection with God. And sometimes it can feel like our hardest connection with Him too. This blog post is intended to help you pray, giving you prayers that you can use yourself, or adapt for your own circumstances and use them as you like.
We have other prayer related blog posts in the Wardrobe Journaling website. Please also check out:
Overcoming difficult times with a prayer for confidence
Prayer for wellness, wellbeing and emotional strength
Faith journal ideas to help you deepen your spiritual life
Giving thanks and praising the Lord for his faithfulness, his enduring love and his holiness are one of the great joys that we have as his followers. And thankfully in addition to our prayers of thanks we can also spend time praying prayers of supplication for wellness, wellbeing and emotional strength and healing.
And the Lord wants us to come to him and ask. Whether it is for a prayer for wellness, or a prayer for financial assistance, or a prayer to get you through a hard time He wants us to come to him and ask.
John’s verses remind us of God’s will for us to be well and whole:
“Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.”
3 John 1:2
Being able to return to him and ask for his assurance that we will be well both physically and mentally and have the emotional strength to endure is a great privilege.
If you are in the situation of needing these kind of prayers then read on.
Prayer for a family member or friend
Intercessory prayer is a great privilege for us. Remember the Canaanite/Syro-phoenician woman in Matthew/Mark who was not a Jew? She persisted even though Jesus was not going to heal her daughter,
‘Lord, help me!’ she said. He replied, ‘It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.’ ‘Yes it is, Lord,’ she said. ‘Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.’ Then Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.’ And her daughter was healed at that moment.”
Matthew 15:21-28 (NIV)
Prayers
Dear Lord and heavenly father,
We thank you for sending your son our Lord Jesus Christ
and for the companionship of your holy spirit
We commend into your hands your servant [name family member or friend]
We prayer for their mental health
and commit our friend [name the friend]
into your healing hands.
We thank you for your great mercy
and we thank you, Lord and father, for healing our friend [name] into wellness and wellbeing,
Amen
This prayer is written in the first person but you can change it accordingly
“The Lord sustains them on their sickbed and restores them from their bed of illness.”
Psalm 41:3
Dear God,
In our hard time I turn to you
and thank you for our unending love for us.
You are our strength and our only source of health.
I pray for you to restore me to wellness
to restore my immune system
and bring me back to full recovery in my body.
Dear Father I am in need of your healing hand
Do not abandon me in my hour of need.
Grant me, Lord, the gift of a long and healthy life.
Lord I ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit,
Give me a cheerful heart and a healthy body.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
Benefits of prayer
One of the main benefits of prayer is not just that it is answered. It is that we can come to the Lord and be in a relationship with him, feel his presence and know that we are loved and watched over with the care of a father or mother.
The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
Psalm 121:5-8
We can pray for that relationship, for us to be close the Lord, for us to be able to draw near to him in our time of need.
Prayer for a renewed relationship with the Lord
O Lord, our heavenly father,
We thank you for the protection of the most precious blood of your son Jesus.
Merciful father in these difficult times when we cry out to your for wellness and wellbeing to be restored in our family
I thank you for your unfailing love.
Lord, draw me close to you once again.
Let me know your love once again.
Make me only thankful for my relationship to you.
Gracious God
In your great mercy and because of your love for me
draw me close to you, let me approach you
and let me feel once again your love and your protection.
Lord you are my Jehovah Jirah, my great protector.
Let me rest under the shadow of your wing
Let me claim safety under your banner
and fill me with your presence once again gracious Lord.
Amen
Prayer for physical healing
“Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint. Heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.”
Psalm 6:2
Insert other symptoms if necessary into the prayer below.
O God,
I come to you now in my time of need
Trusting for better times, trusting for pain relief
Trusting for a long life ahead.
Dear Jesus you know the story of my health problems
I come to you now for healing and for [name your specific outcome here].
Lord I look forward to a time of better health
I look forward to better times with my family and spouse/partner [name them]
I ask that at my next trip to the hospital I will have good health results.
I pray this in Jesus’ name and thank you for your unfailing love,
Amen
Short prayer
Sometimes the most powerful healing prayer is the shortest.
Jesus uses few words in the account of the paralytic man in John’s Gospel:
“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.”
John 5:9
Almighty God, our heavenly Father,
I come before you now and ask for healing for …………………..
May their symptoms stop and may their illness cease and may they be healed.
We ask this in Jesus’ name,
Amen
We know that God goes to work when we are unable to do so. When we are at the end of our tether, when all our options have gone we are able to bring our distress and sadness to the Lord.
Prayer when all seems lost
Lord God
Father, provider and my heart’s desire.
We bring [name] before you now.
You alone, my dearest Lord, know the distress and sadness we all feel now with our brother/sister [name].
Please grant us all the comfort of your love at this time.
May we know your presence with us.
Even now Lord Jesus, give us hope.
We come before you not trusting in ourselves, but trusting in you Lord God
and we humbly ask you to heal and make whole our brother/sister [name].
Let all sickness fall away.
Psalm 41:3 says “The LORD sustains them on their sickbed and restores them from their bed of illness.”
Let them be well, fill them with wellness and well being.
Give them more time. Allocate them time and restore them to full physical health.
We pray today for the hand of God to touch [name] and restore him/her to the joy of health which they have not had for a long time.
In your great love and mercy, remember us and remember [name].
Do not abandon us in our time of distress and need
We trust Lord that you will not leave us now and thank you for your great mercy.
Hear our prayer Lord,
Amen
Prayer for Healing and Spiritual Growth
Dear Lord,
In Jesus’ name, I come before you with a humble heart, seeking your healing touch.
Please guide and strengthen me as I navigate the trials of life.
Reach into the deepest recesses of my heart and heal any brokenness I carry.
Remove any sharp edges that hinder my spiritual growth and make me soft and loving.
I surrender my heart, my mind, and my body into your hands, trusting in your merciful love.
Grant me the wisdom to make better choices and take better care of my body.
Surround me with a prayer group and social support that will uplift me.
As I engage in daily Bible readings and seek your presence, help me find spiritual healing and become a vessel of your love.
Amen.
Prayer for Physical Healing and Gratitude
Merciful Jesus,
I lift up my prayers to you, knowing that you have the power to heal.
I pray for the damaged areas of my body, especially my [blood pressure] and [blocked arteries] (insert your symptoms there).
I ask for your divine touch to bring restoration and rejuvenation and total wellness once again.
Thank you for the hard work and dedication of the doctors, the hospital staff, and all those involved in my care.
I am grateful for the different forms of complementary medicine and the knowledge shared by experts like Dr. [name] and Dr. [Name] from [………. hospital] (insert your own names). May their expertise have a positive impact on my healing journey.
With a heart full of gratitude, I commit to taking good care of my body, finding wellness and making better choices.
May you, O God, guide me and bless me with strength and wellness for the rest of my life. In Jesus’ name, I pray.
Amen.
Prayer for Divine Protection and Guidance
Loving God,
As I face physical hardships and challenges,
I seek refuge under your sheltering wings of divine love
and ask that you bring me to wellness once again.
May your presence be with me every moment of my life, granting me the strength to endure and overcome.
I pray for [name ], struggling with her [broken heart] and [physical ailments] (insert your own).
Extend your comforting touch and provide her with the care she needs.
Surround her with a supportive community and compassionate doctors who will offer her better care.
Bless the work of the doctors, nurses, and all hospital staff who serve tirelessly.
Guide them to provide the best care possible.
Help me, Lord, to find solace in your Word, the Bible, and the guidance of a spiritual director/pastor/leader like [name].
In this new day, I offer an act of raising hearts in prayer, seeking both physical and spiritual healing.
May your daily readings and powerful prayers lead me towards greater spiritual growth.
Amen.
I hope these prayers have been helpful. Sometimes it is just so lovely to have another prayer to pray through and to be able to use words already prepared for this purpose.
If you like this post you may also like:
Notebook prayer journal ideas for easy and beautiful prayers
How to be happy: Journal your prayer for self confidence
Finally, let me tell you a little bit about Wardrobe Journaling. It is the process I have created that helps you understand yourself better through journaling and through thinking about the clothes you wear and your own unique personality. There are lots of Wardrobe Journaling blog posts available on this site. There is also the entirely unique Wardrobe Journaling course. If you want to take a step further into your own self development and self care this is a great, gentle but powerful course to take.
Have a great day!
Sarah