from 5 Things To Pray For Your Heart by Rachel Jones which we gave out a few months ago
Father, help me to be a friend to others who is:
1. CAREFUL
“Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come” (v 1)
Ask for forgiveness for any way you've led your friends into sin. It doesn't take much—an off color joke, a snide remark, a bad attitude. Ask for grace to watch yourself (v 3). Pray that your words and example would spur your Christian friends toward godliness, and point your non-Christian friends toward Jesus.
2. HONEST
“If your brother of sister sins against you, rebuke them” (v 3)
Ask God to bless you with real, honest friendships. Pray that you would be humble enough to listen to your friends when they rebuke you, and loving enough to challenge your Christian friends over their sin and help them grow more Christ-like. Pray you would love them more than you love their approval.
3. FORGIVING
"...and if they repent, forgive them" (v 3)
Thank God that he always forgives you when you repent—even though you sin against him far more than "seven times in a day" (v 4). So pray you would be a friend who forgives—who decides to love, to act, and to pray as though a wrong had never been committed. Is there another Christian you're withholding forgiveness from? Ask for a spirt of true forgiveness.
4. CHRIST-DEPENDENT
"The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!" (v 5)
Not all friendships are easy, and no friendship is easy all the time. So cry out to the Lord to give you what you need to be a good friend. Thank God for pouring his love into your heart so that you can show it to others—ask him to make you dependent on him.
5. PRAYERFUL
"If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you” (v 6)
Jesus is clear: prayer works! So ask him to help you to be consistent and persistent in prayer on your friends’ behalf. Think of one or two friends, and pray now for their specific situations. Ask God to fill them with faith in his promises.