The following prayers were prepared by Arnold Burron, professor emeritus at the University of Northern Colorado, using The Bible: An American Translation. Each prayer is paraphrased directly from the Scriptures. Professor Burron did some pluralizing of pronouns to make the text easier to use in prayer form.
Philippians 1:9-11: “I pray that ____________________ will grow in their love for God. I pray that they will learn more about God, and that they will grow in godly wisdom. I pray that they will understand how much Christ loves them, so that their lives will be filled with good deeds that glorify God. Amen.”
Ephesians 1:17-19: “I ask the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, to give ____________________ His Spirit to make ____________________ wise and reveal the truth to ____________________. I ask You, Lord, to enlighten the eyes of ____________________ mind so that ____________________ will really appreciate the wonderful hope of heaven that God gives them. I pray that they will really appreciate the fantastic riches of heaven that are waiting for them. I pray that they will understand that God’s awesome power is working in them and for them. Amen.”
Ephesians 3:14-21: “Holy Spirit, I pray that you will inwardly strengthen ____________________ with power. I pray that Christ will live in ____________________ heart by faith, and that ____________________ will be firmly rooted and built up in love. I pray for these things so that ____________________ will be able to grasp how broad, and long, and high, and deep God’s love is so that ____________________ will know how much Christ loves us—more than we can possibly imagine—so that ____________________ will be filled with all that is in God.”
1 Thessalonians 3:12-13: “Lord, help ____________________ grow in love and overflow with it for others, just as I love ____________________, and give ____________________ inward strength to be holy and without a fault before our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all His holy ones! Amen.”
Colossians 1:9-13: “Lord God, I ask you to fill ____________________ with a clear knowledge of every kind of spiritual wisdom and understanding. Let them use that spiritual wisdom and understanding so that they will always aim to please God in every way by producing good works. I ask You to help ____________________ to grow in the knowledge of God. I ask You, in your wonderful might, to strengthen ____________________ with all the power necessary to endure patiently whatever comes to them. I ask you, God, to enable them to joyfully thank the Father for everything, by helping ____________________ to really know that what we will someday inherit is so wonderful that we cannot begin to understand it.”
2 Thessalonians 2:17 and 3:1-2, 5: “1 pray that You will inwardly comfort and strengthen____________________ to do and say everything that is good. I pray that You will protect ____________________ from wrong minded and wicked people. Lead ____________________ to realize how much God loves them, and how patiently Christ suffered for them. Amen.”
2 Thessalonians 1:11-12: “Lord, I pray that You will make ____________________ worthy of your calling and by Your power accomplish every good thing ____________________ decides to do, so that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified. I pray that You will do this because of the undeserved love You have for us as a result of what
Jesus did for us.”
Hebrews 13:20-21: “God of peace, Who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus … please give ____________________ every good thing they need, to do what You want them to do, and work in all of us through Jesus Christ to do what pleases you.”
St. Paul gives us an example of how often we should pray:
2 Timothy 1:3: “I thank God … when I remember you in my prayers, as I never fail to do day and night.”
(Source: The Bible: An American Translation, Dr. William Beck; Paraphrased prayers: Dr. Arnold Burron)