Charles Spurgeon admonished his church, “We cannot all preach; we cannot all rule; we cannot all give gold and silver, but we can all contribute our prayers.” Praying for our churches aligns our affections with the affections of God, who “loves the gates of Zion” (Ps. 87:2). 

To know how best to pray for our churches, we need to consider how the ascended Lord Jesus Christ prays for His church. J.C. Ryle was right when he said, “What Christ asks for His people, His people should ask for themselves.” Therefore, Jesus’ prayer in John 17 is helpful as a template for our prayers concerning our churches.

It’s worth noting the spiritual nature of Jesus’ prayer. This might sound obvious, since all prayer is “spiritual,” but I’m referring more to the end (telos) of our prayers. Many email prayer chains are full of health and financial concerns. To be sure, we mustn’t disregard the importance of temporal needs (Phil. 4:6), but we should pray for temporal needs insofar as they are for spiritual ends. Perhaps noting a few categories in John 17 will support this claim.

Perseverance: Pray that none in the visible church would wander, that your church family would be numbered among those of whom Christ said He would lose not one (vv. 11, 23; see 10:28).

Joy: Pray for joy that is full, sustained, communicable, and Godward (John 17:13; see Pss. 16:11; 21:6).

Protection: Pray for protection from the world, the flesh, and the devil, the one who seeks to lead the sheep astray (John 17:15).

Sanctification: Pray for your church to be set apart in holiness and for Spirit-wrought conformity to Christ (v. 17).

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