Praying for others
Prayer list ideas: who to pray for on each day of the week
Most of us have said "I'll pray for you" and then forgotten by the time we got home. It isn't that we don't care, but good intentions don't hold a name in your head for very long. A prayer list is just a way of writing those people down so they don't slip away.
The trouble is that a list can grow until it's forty names long and praying through it feels like a chore you're behind on. What helps most people is splitting it across the week. You pray for a handful of people each day, and over seven days everyone gets their turn. Nobody is left out, and no single day is heavy.
Paul, writing to Timothy, put it plainly:
First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone— for kings and all those in authority—so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity.
Everyone is a lot of people, so here's one way to break it up.
A simple weekly prayer list
Move these around however suits you. If Sunday is your busiest day, give it the shortest list.
Monday: family
The people under your roof first, then the ones further away: parents, brothers and sisters, the cousin you only see at weddings, the in-laws. If you have children, Monday is a good day to pray about the week ahead of them, the test on Thursday, the friend who's been unkind.
A line to pray: Lord, look after my family this week. Where they're worried, give them peace, and where I can help, show me how.
Tuesday: friends
The friend you text every day and the one you haven't spoken to in a year. Old school friends count, and so does the neighbour you wave to. If you know what's going on in their lives, pray about that, and if you don't, pray for them anyway.
A line to pray: Thank you for my friends. Keep them close to you, and keep me a good friend to them.
Wednesday: your church
Your minister or pastor, the people who run the children's work, the person who sits at the back and leaves before anyone can talk to them. If you don't go to a church at the moment, Wednesday can be for Christians you know, wherever they are. There's a set of old prayers for this on our page of prayers for the church.
A line to pray: Lord, bless the people who lead us and the people nobody notices. Make us kind to each other.
Thursday: work, school and the people you see every day
Colleagues, your boss, the people who report to you, the receptionist, the bus driver, the person who serves your coffee. If you're a student, your teachers and the people on your course. These are the people you spend most of your waking hours with, and they're easy to leave off a list.
A line to pray: Lord, bless the people I work with today, and help me be fair and patient with them.
Friday: the world
Pick one place in the news and one place you have a link to, maybe where your family came from or where a friend now lives. Pray for whoever is in charge there, even if you didn't vote for them. Pray for people who've had to leave their homes. Our prayers for peace are a good place to borrow words from.
A line to pray: Lord, you see what's happening there better than any news report. Give the people in charge wisdom, and keep the ordinary people safe.
Saturday: people who are hard to love
This is the day most lists leave out, and Jesus was very direct about it:
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Most of us don't have enemies in the dramatic sense. We have the ex, the relative who always says the wrong thing at Christmas, the colleague who took the credit, the person online who made us furious. Praying for them doesn't mean pretending it didn't happen. It just means bringing them to God instead of going over it again in your head.
A line to pray: Lord, I find this person hard. Bless them anyway, and help me let go of what I'm holding on to.
Sunday: yourself, and thanks
It's fine to pray for yourself. Sunday can be for what's on your own mind, and for looking back over the week's list and thanking God for the prayers that were answered, even small ones.
A line to pray: Thank you for this week, and for the people in it. Here's what's worrying me. I'm leaving it with you.
How to make a prayer list
A note on your phone works, or the back page of a notebook, or a sheet of paper tucked inside your Bible. Write the day at the top and a few names under it. Next to each name, add a word or two about what to pray for: "new job", "mum's knee", "exams in June". That little note is what turns a name into an actual prayer.
Keep each day short. Five or six names is a good number. If a day gets long, split it, or move some people to a day with fewer.
When something gets answered, write that down too, with the date. A few months in, it's the most encouraging part of the list.
How to keep it from becoming a guilt list
This is where most prayer lists quietly die. You miss Tuesday, then Wednesday, and by Thursday the list feels like a reminder of what you haven't done, so you stop opening it.
A few things help. First, if you miss a day, skip it and start again on today's. Tuesday's friends will come round again next week. God isn't keeping a tally, and the list exists to help you, not to grade you.
Second, short is fine. On a busy day, read the names and say one line for all of them. That's still praying for them.
Third, pin it to something you already do. Lots of people pray through the list with their first coffee, on the walk to the station, or while the kettle boils. Mutter can help with this: if you add people to its prayer list and turn on App Guard, a few of them come up before the apps you choose open, the ones you prayed for longest ago first, and you say Amen and carry on.
When to take someone off
A list should change. People go on it because something is happening, and when it passes, it's fine to take them off. The operation went well, the job came through, the baby arrived. Thank God for it, note it in your answered column, and let that slot go to someone who needs it now.
Some people stay on for years, and that's fine too: your children, your closest friends, someone with a long illness, someone you're hoping will come back to faith. Samuel, the old prophet, told the people of Israel:
As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way.
If a name has been on so long that you've stopped thinking about it when you read it, move it to a different day or add a fresh note about what they need now.
And if someone dies, you might want to keep their family on the list for a while. Grief lasts a lot longer than the funeral. There are some old prayers for those who grieve if you want words for that.
Questions
How many people should be on a prayer list?
As many as you can actually pray for. For most people that's somewhere around thirty spread over a week, about five a day. Start smaller than you think and add to it.
Is it wrong to pray for myself on a prayer list?
No. Jesus taught us to ask for our daily bread. Praying for yourself sits comfortably next to praying for others, and a list that includes you is more honest.
What do I pray if I don't know what someone needs?
Say their name and ask God to bless them and keep them close. You don't have to know the details. There's more on this in how to pray for someone.