With Whom Should I Pray?

Prayer is one side of a conversation. God gets his chance to speak to us when we listen to his word, the Bible. We get our chance to speak to God in prayer.

Conversations can be more than two-sided. At a party, a group of three, four or more people may talk with one another in the same conversation. So it is with prayer. Though prayer is often a personal heart to heart talk with God, at times a group of people may offer its collected thoughts to God. Such a situation begs the question, "With whom should I pray?"

Keep thinking about the picture of a conversation. At the party, those with similar interests engage in a group discussion. The same holds true in prayer spoken by more than one person. Since prayer is an outward expression of faith in the heart, praying with someone else assumes a foundation of agreement in faith, a common interest. For example, two or more people would hardly feel comfortable praying together if they did NOT agree on who God is, that being to whom they would be addressing their prayer.

God wants people to agree with one another about what they believe. God's spokesman, the apostle Paul, said, "I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought." (1 Corinthians 1:10) With the Bible as the standard, God wants people to truly "agree to agree" instead of "agreeing to disagree"!

People who agree with one another have similar interests. They want to converse with one another. They can reveal their spiritual unity to others by praying together. Since God's people don't want to give God (or others) mixed messages, they seek to pray with those who stand for the same things that they do.

Certainly God wants us to pray FOR everyone, even our enemies. However, when we want to pray WITH someone, God urges us to join in prayer with those who believe and say the same things about God and his Word as we do.