How to Pray for Ourselves

People often say that they either don’t have time to pray for themselves or that they view it as selfish when there is so much more to be praying for or others who “need” it more. While that sentiment might be well-intentioned, we need to be found in prayer for ourselves daily to become more like Jesus!

1 John 5:14-15 says, “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”

We know God desires us to be “conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29), so we can humbly ask, yet with deep confidence, for God to make us more like Jesus in our words, works, and ways. He hears us! He loves us! He will answer us!

Below, you’ll find a few “asks” to guide us as we pray for Ourselves; please don’t feel restricted by these. Instead, allow them to guide you into deeper communion with the Holy Spirit as He leads in prayer.

• Ask God to reveal any areas of your heart that you might be tempted to withhold from Him (Psalm 139).
• Ask God to remove any ways that are unlike Him so that you might be purified (Psalm 51).
• Ask God to renew a “right spirit within” so that you might have the strength to carry on (Psalm 51).
• Ask God to restore the “joy of His salvation” so that you might remember who you are (Psalm 51).
• Ask God to release you into service for His glory (Acts 4)