The church is not just a building or an organization. It is a living, breathing, and dynamic community of people who share a common faith in Jesus Christ. The church is the body of Christ, and as such, it needs constant prayer and intercession.
Prayer is one of the most powerful ways to support and encourage the church, especially in times of trial, persecution, or division. Here are 20 powerful prayers for the church that you can use to uplift, heal, and inspire the members of the body of Christ.
1. Prayer for the Church Unity
Lord Jesus, you prayed that your followers would be one, just as you and the Father are one (John 17:21).
We ask you to grant us the grace of unity, that we may be one in faith, love, and purpose.
Help us to overcome our differences and divisions, and to seek your will in all things.
May we be united in your truth and your Spirit, and may we reflect your glory to the world. Amen.
2. Prayer for the Church Growth
Heavenly Father, you have called us to be your witnesses and to make disciples of all nations (Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:19).
We pray that you would bless our efforts to share the gospel with others, and that you would add to our number those who are being saved (Acts 2:47). Give us a passion for evangelism and a heart for the lost.
May we be faithful in sowing the seed of your word, and may you bring forth a harvest of souls for your kingdom. Amen.
3. Prayer for the Church Leadership
Almighty God, you have appointed leaders in your church to shepherd your flock and to equip your saints for ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12).
We pray that you would anoint our leaders with wisdom, courage, and integrity. Protect them from the attacks of the enemy, and from any temptation or compromise. Strengthen them in their calling, and empower them by your Spirit. May they lead us by example, and may they follow you wholeheartedly. Amen.
4. Prayer for the Church Worship
Holy Spirit, you are the source of our worship and the giver of our gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4-6). We pray that you would fill us with your presence and inspire us with your praise.
Help us to worship you in spirit and in truth (John 4:24), and to offer you our lives as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1).
May our worship be pleasing to you, and may it draw us closer to you. Amen.
5. Prayer for the Church Teaching
Lord Jesus, you are the teacher of teachers and the word of life (John 1:1-4).
We pray that you would bless our teaching ministry, and that you would speak through us as we proclaim your word. Help us to rightly divide the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15), and to apply it to our lives.
May your word be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105), and may it transform us into your image (2 Corinthians 3:18). Amen.
6. Prayer for the Church Fellowship
Heavenly Father, you have adopted us as your children and made us members of one family (Ephesians 1:5; Romans 12:5). We pray that you would bless our fellowship with one another, and that you would knit us together in love (Colossians 2:2). Help us to bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2), to forgive one another (Ephesians 4:32), and to serve one another (Galatians 5:13). May we be devoted to one another in brotherly love (Romans 12:10), and may we show the world that we are your disciples by our love for one another (John 13:35). Amen.
7. Prayer for the Church Healing
Jehovah Rapha, you are the Lord who heals us (Exodus 15:26). We pray that you would heal our church from any sickness, disease, or injury that afflicts us. We ask you to touch us with your healing power, and to restore us to wholeness.
We also pray that you would heal our church from any spiritual wounds or emotional scars that hinder us from experiencing your peace and joy. We claim your promise that by your stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5), and that you are able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). Amen.
8. Prayer for the Church Protection
El Shaddai, you are the Almighty God and our refuge and strength (Psalm 46:1). We pray that you would protect our church from any harm or danger that threatens us.
We ask you to shield us from the schemes of the devil, and to deliver us from evil (Matthew 6:13).
We also pray that you would protect our church from any false doctrine or deception that tries to infiltrate us.
We declare that no weapon formed against us shall prosper, and that every tongue that accuses us shall be silenced (Isaiah 54:17). Amen.
9. Prayer for the Church Revival
Lord Jesus, you are the resurrection and the life (John 11:25).
We pray that you would revive our church from any complacency, apathy, or lukewarmness that has crept in.
We ask you to stir up our hearts with a fresh fire and a renewed zeal for you.
Help us to repent of any sin or idolatry that has quenched your Spirit, and to seek your face with humility and hunger.
May we experience your presence and your power in a new way, and may we be a catalyst for revival in our community and beyond. Amen.
10. Prayer for the Church Mission
Heavenly Father, you have sent your Son into the world to save the world (John 3:16-17). We pray that you would send us into the world to be your witnesses and your ambassadors (Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:20).
Help us to be salt and light in this dark and decaying world (Matthew 5:13-16), and to be agents of reconciliation and transformation.
May we be faithful in fulfilling the great commission, and may we make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything you have commanded us (Matthew 28:19-20). Amen.
11. Prayer for the Church Grace
Lord Jesus, you are the source of all grace and truth (John 1:14-17). We pray that you would pour out your grace upon our church, and that you would enable us to live by your grace. Help us to receive your grace freely, and to extend it generously. Help us to grow in grace, and to abound in every good work by your grace. May your grace be sufficient for us in our weakness, and may your grace be multiplied to us in our need. Amen.
12. Prayer for the Church Joy
Holy Spirit, you are the giver of joy and the fruit of joy (Galatians 5:22).
We pray that you would fill us with your joy, and that you would make our joy complete. Help us to rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
Help us to count it all joy when we face trials of various kinds, knowing that the testing of our faith produces perseverance (James 1:2-3).
May we have the joy of the Lord as our strength (Nehemiah 8:10), and may we share your joy with others. Amen.
13. Prayer for the Church Peace
Jehovah Shalom, you are the Lord of peace and the Prince of peace (Judges 6:24; Isaiah 9:6).
We pray that you would give us your peace, which transcends all understanding (Philippians 4:7). Help us to be at peace with you, with ourselves, and with one another.
Help us to pursue peace with everyone, as far as it depends on us (Romans 12:18; Hebrews 12:14).
May we have the peace of Christ ruling in our hearts (Colossians 3:15), and may we be peacemakers who sow in peace a harvest of righteousness (James 3:18). Amen.
14. Prayer for the Church Love
Heavenly Father, you are love, and you have loved us with an everlasting love (1 John 4:8; Jeremiah 31:3). We pray that you would fill us with your love, which is poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). Help us to love you with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31). Help us to love one another as you have loved us, by laying down our lives for each other (John 15:12-13). May we have the love of Christ compelling us (2 Corinthians 5:14), and may we abide in your love forever. Amen.
15. Prayer for the Church Hope
Lord Jesus, you are the hope of glory and the anchor of our souls (Colossians 1:27; Hebrews 6:19). We pray that you would fill us with your hope, and that you would renew our hope in you. Help us to hope in your promises, which are yes and amen in you (2 Corinthians 1:20). Help us to hope in your power, which can do more than we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). Help us to hope in your love, which never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8). May we have the hope of Abraham, who hoped against hope, and believed that you would fulfill your word (Romans 4:18-21), and may we have the hope of Job, who said, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth” (Job 19:25). Amen.
16. Prayer for Faith of the Church
Lord Jesus, you are the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). We pray that you would increase our faith, and that you would help our unbelief (Mark 9:24). Help us to trust you in all circumstances, and to walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Help us to overcome the world by our faith, and to please you by our faith (1 John 5:4; Hebrews 11:6). May we have the faith of Abraham, who believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness (Romans 4:3), and may we have the faith of a mustard seed, which can move mountains (Matthew 17:20). Amen.
17. Prayer for Wisdom of the Church
Heavenly Father, you are the source of all wisdom and knowledge (Proverbs 2:6; Colossians 2:3). We pray that you would give us wisdom, which is more precious than gold and rubies (Proverbs 3:13-15; Proverbs 8:11). Help us to ask you for wisdom in faith, without doubting, and you will generously give it to us (James 1:5-6). Help us to apply your wisdom to our lives, and to walk in the way of wisdom, which leads to life and peace (Proverbs 4:11-13; Proverbs 3:17-18). May we have the wisdom of Solomon, who asked you for wisdom above all else, and you gave him more than he could imagine (1 Kings 3:5-13), and may we have the wisdom from above, which is pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere (James 3:17). Amen.
18. Prayer for Humility of the Church
Lord Jesus, you are the example of humility and the servant of all (Philippians 2:5-8; Mark 10:45). We pray that you would teach us humility, and that you would clothe us with humility (1 Peter 5:5). Help us to humble ourselves before you, and you will lift us up (James 4:10). Help us to humble ourselves before one another, and to consider others better than ourselves (Philippians 2:3-4). Help us to resist pride, which comes before destruction, and to embrace humility, which comes before honor (Proverbs 16:18; Proverbs 15:33). May we have the humility of Moses, who was the most humble man on earth (Numbers 12:3), and may we have the humility of John the Baptist, who said that he must decrease, and you must increase (John 3:30). Amen.
19. Prayer for the Church Generosity
Heavenly Father, you are the giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17). We pray that you would make us generous, and that you would help us to give cheerfully and willingly (2 Corinthians 9:7). Help us to give according to what we have, not according to what we do not have (2 Corinthians 8:12). Help us to give not only our money, but also our time, talents, and resources. Help us to give not only to our friends and family, but also to our enemies and strangers. Help us to give not only to those who can repay us, but also to those who cannot. May we have the generosity of David, who gave abundantly for the building of your temple (1 Chronicles 29:1-9), and may we have the generosity of the widow, who gave all she had out of her poverty (Mark 12:41-44). Amen.
20. Prayer for the Church Holiness
Lord Jesus, you are holy, holy, holy, and you call us to be holy as you are holy (Revelation 4:8; Leviticus 11:44-45; 1 Peter 1:15-16). We pray that you would sanctify us by your truth; your word is truth (John 17:17). Help us to put off our old self with its sinful desires, and to put on our new self with your divine nature (Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:9-10; 2 Peter 1:4). Help us to flee from sexual immorality, which is a sin against our own body, which is a temple of your Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:18-20). Help us to abstain from every form of evil, which is a snare of the devil (1 Thessalonians 5:22; 2 Timothy 2:26). May we have the holiness of Joseph, who resisted the temptation of Potiphar’s wife (Genesis 39:7-12), and may we have the holiness of Daniel, who refused to defile himself with the king’s food (Daniel 1:8-16). Amen.
These are some of the powerful prayers for the church that you can use to uplift, heal, and inspire the members of the body of Christ. Feel free to modify them according to your needs and preferences, and to add your own personal requests and praises. Remember that God hears and answers our prayers according to his will, and that he is able to do far more than we can ask or think (1 John 5:14-15; Ephesians 3:20). Let us pray without ceasing, and let us pray with confidence, knowing that we have a great High Priest who intercedes for us at the right hand of God (1 Thessalonians 5:17; Hebrews 4:14-16). Let us pray for one another, and let us pray for the glory of God. Amen.
