We all want our churches to be a place of encouragement, belonging, and learning that brings people closer to the Lord. There are a lot of ingredients that contribute to having a healthy church where people are growing in the Lord. One key ingredient to church growth and development is prayer!
As we explore the power of prayer for church growth and development, we will be praying for love for the word of God, compassion and care for those inside and outside of the church, and many other factors that contribute to a healthy church.
Having a healthy church that honors the Lord is crucial to church growth.
10 Powerful Prayers for Church Growth and Development
Be sure to check out the printable prayer guide at the end of this post. These intercessory prayer points and Bible verses are a great resource for personal prayer time or a prayer meeting at church!
Prayer for Church Growth and Development: Love for the Word of God
Psalm 119:11 says “I have hidden your word in my heart,that I might not sin against you.” Knowing the Bible and taking it to heart is a key part of being a healthy and growing Christian.
If people in your church don’t know and love the Bible, if they don’t feel like something is missing when they don’t spend time in the Word, then any growth your church might see isn’t really growing the body of Christ. It’s just growing your organization.
It doesn’t mean that everyone in your church is a Bible scholar, or that anyone who doesn’t spend hours each day in the Word doesn’t love God. But as believers mature in the Lord, they should want to interact with the Word of God.
Pray for your church to:
- Love the Bible
- Read God’s Word
- Live out the Biblical principles
Dear Lord,
We thank You for Your Word! We are so blessed to have Your inspired words in the Bible. We are thankful for the access we have to it, as it is not a freedom everyone has in this world.
We pray that our church would love Your Word. We pray that everyone would find a way to read the Bible each day. For those who learn better by hearing, we pray that You would show them the different ways they can listen to the Bible.
We pray that we would be a church that wants to learn more about Your Word. And help us not to just read the Bible but to live it out.
We pray these things in the name of Jesus, Amen.
Prayer for Church Growth and Development: Prayer Warriors
James 5:16b tells us, “The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective.”
Prayer isn’t saying the right or perfect words to get what you want from God. It’s an honest conversation with the Lord, where we petition our mighty God with our prayer requests. We then trust Him to answer these prayers according to His will.
He will oftentimes use our prayer times to prepare our hearts for His answer, giving us peace and helping us surrender our own will.
People praying for the church and for its growth isn’t just a good thing for people to do; it is crucial to the health of the church and the spiritual growth of the congregation.
Pray that the church will:
- Have many prayer warriors praying for it faithfully
- Encourage people in prayer in teaching and resources
- See answers to prayer, and be thankful
Dear Heavenly Father,
We are so thankful to be able to pray to You! The fact that You, the Creator of the Universe, not only allow us to approach You in prayer, but You desire it — what an immense privilege to be able to interact with You in this way.
As we pray for our church, we pray that many others will be lifting up our church in prayer as well. We pray that our church would be faithful in teaching others about prayer. We pray that there will be many prayer meetings and prayer groups at our church.
As we see answers to prayer, we pray that we would remember that they are answers to prayer, and not our own accomplishments. May we spend time in praise and thanksgiving, showing our gratitude for Your provision.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Prayer for Church Growth and Development: Prayer for Church Leaders
Philippians 2:5 says, “Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus.” As Christians, we want to follow the example of Christ as we see in the Bible. The leaders of a church should also follow this example.
Remember that they will do this imperfectly – they are human, just like you! But hopefully, they will be growing in their spiritual maturity, and leading from the strength and wisdom of the Lord that they experience in their own walk with God.
Pray for:
- Church leaders who love the Lord and walk faithfully
- Church leaders who have a heart for serving God by serving others
- Church leaders to be open to God’s calling and to be equipped for their roles
Dear Lord,
We thank You for the leaders of the church You give different gifts to everyone, and we are thankful for how You have brought them together to serve You in this church.
We pray that You would help them to be faithful in their walk with You. Help them to grow in their love for You and Your Word. Help them to serve others, in service to You. Provide rest and encouragement for them.
We pray that they will be faithful to their calling. Please provide the tools and resources they need to serve You in the ways You have called them.
We pray that You would be with our leaders, including our pastor, pastor’s wife, elders, deacons, worship leaders, staff members, lay leaders, and others who have taken a position of leadership in our church.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Prayer for Church Growth and Development: Showing Compassion and Care
Ephesians 4:32 tells us, “And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you.”
As we endeavor to follow the example of Christ, a healthy church should be a compassionate and forgiving church that is faithful to the Word of God.
This means that we shouldn’t be focused on building the best “club for Christians,” but instead, finding responsible ways to show Christ’s love and compassion to others inside and outside the church. We want to reflect God’s heart to others.
Sometimes this means responding to the needs of the church members in front of us; other times, it means developing a program for a felt need in the community.
Pray for our church to:
- Pray over the ways they can show compassion inside the church
- Find opportunities to show Christ to the community by serving outside the church
- Show wisdom and discernment in helping others
Almighty God,
We want to be a kind, tender hearted, and forgiving church. We want to show Your kindness to our church family, as well as the community around us.
We pray that You would show us what that means for our church. It might not be the same as other churches, and that’s OK. We want to serve You in the ways You have called us.
We pray that You will show us who to help. Please discourage those who might ask for or accept help that they don’t need. We pray that the time, resources, and donations we give to these needs would go exactly where You want them to.
May they bring the results that You want. Help us to be faithful in compassion.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Prayer for Church Growth and Development: New Believers
It is recorded in Acts 5:14, “More believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.”
Sometimes church growth is realized through Christians moving to an area and finding a church to attend; other times, churches grow in number through people switching to another church.
But one of the most exciting and meaningful ways to see growth is to grow the church through people coming to know Christ for the first time! And what a privilege to be even a small part of someone coming to the Lord.
Pray for your church to:
- Faithfully preach the Gospel
- Support new believers through discipleship
- Be a supportive environment for new believers.
Dear Lord,
We know that You and your angels rejoice when someone surrenders their heart to You! We join You in rejoicing.
We pray that we would be faithful in presenting Your gospel to others, that we would use existing opportunities and create new ones to share the hope found in Jesus Christ.
We pray that we would have many leaders and volunteers who would be part of teaching new believers about Christ. We pray that our church culture would be welcoming and supportive as new believers start their faith journey.
In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Prayer for Church Growth and Development: Commitment to Spiritual Growth
Hebrews 5:12 tells us, “For although by this time you should be teachers, you again need to have someone teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the revelations of God. You have come to need milk, and not solid food.”
In Hebrews 5, Paul was addressing those who were not committed to growing in Christ. Their spiritual growth was stunted because they did not even try to master the basics of the teachings about Christ.
There are times in our lives where we might just be hanging in there, and that’s OK. The Lord knows what’s happening. But there are other times where we put in minimal effort to our spiritual growth. We skip quiet times, we avoid Bible studies, we prioritize the wrong things.
On our own and as a church, we need to choose spiritual growth over just coasting our way through life. There is grace for us; we aren’t going to do this perfectly. But let’s build habits and practices that bring us closer to the Lord.
Pray that our church would:
- Have sermons and Bible studies that go deep in the Word
- Find ways to help people understand complex issues
- Challenge people to grow in Christ.
Dear Lord,
Thank You for Your Word. We love it, and want to live it out in our lives.
We pray that You would help our church be faithful to Your Word, and show us how to communicate it to others. Help us to offer Bible studies that serve people on a variety of points in their spiritual growth.
Help us not to shy away from learning or difficult questions. Give us a heart and mind to understand and live out Your Word in our lives.
May we always have opportunities to experience spiritual growth in our church,
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Prayer for Church Growth and Development: Prayer for Church Growth according to God’s Agenda
1 Samuel 16:7 says, “But the LORD said to Samuel, “Don’t look on his face, or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for I don’t see as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
In praying for church growth and development, for some, the real prayer request is, “God, let us see numerical growth.” We want to have a big church, imagining that it would help us to do what God wants us to do.
Large churches, or “megachurches,” play an important role in the church community. They are often able to provide programs, resources, and events that are out of reach for many churches.
Being a large church does not make them good or bad, as long as they are faithful to God’s Word. And small churches aren’t better or worse, just different.
Of course, each church should want more people to be part of their church family. But let’s not judge church growth only by numbers. Let’s seek the wisdom of the Lord as we evaluate our church’s growth.
Pray that our church will:
- Seek the Lord in church growth and development
- Not judge church growth only by numbers
- Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18)
O Lord,
We want our church to grow! We surrender to You what that means for our church.
Help us to be faithful to what You want us to do. Don’t let us get ahead of You with our own plans, but always spend time in prayer.
We would love to be part of growing a large church family for You. Whether that is large in attendance, or impactful in some other way, we give that over to You.
May we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! In Your Name, Amen.
Prayer for Church Growth and Development: For Your Own Role in the Church
We read in 1 Corinthians 12:6-7, “There are various kinds of workings, but the same God, who works all things in all. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the profit of all.”
Many of these prayers are for our church to pray together, in corporate prayer. But we should not neglect our own personal contribution to our church. What is God specifically calling me to do, and am I answering that call? This should be something we each ask ourselves.
We should also not try to fulfill every possible role in the church. That takes away the opportunity from someone else, and often leads to burnout.
In this prayer for church growth and development, each of us should prayer for our own:
- Response to God’s calling
- Ministry to others
- Walk with God
Dear Lord,
Thank You that I get to be part of this church. I am blessed and encouraged by my church family.
I want to serve You in my church as You have called me. Help me to discern that calling, using the gifts which You have given me. Help me to be open to serving wherever You might call.
I pray that I will be a blessing to others. Please help me to grow in You each day, and to walk closely with You!
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Prayer for Church Growth and Development: Spiritual Warfare Against the Church
Ephesians 6:10-11 says, “Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”
Our church is opposed in this world, not just by some people, but by spiritual forces.
Ephesians 6:12 adds, “For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
Some people may be reluctant to attribute some challenges to spiritual warfare; others might credit spiritual warfare for every problem they have. The answer probably lies somewhere in between those two extremes.
Spiritual warfare is real, and we need to handle it with prayer, God’s Word, and discernment.
Pray that we will prepare for spiritual warfare by:
- Diving deep into God’s Word, so we can know truth
- Praying over it, and trusting God for the answer
- Being mindful of choices that draw us away from the Lord
Dear Lord,
We know that we are facing opposition that we don’t even see as we try to help others in their spiritual growth at church.
We pray that we will be prepared by putting on the spiritual armor of God, that we would be equipped with truth, righteousness, the Gospel message, faith, salvation, and the Word of God (Ephesians 6:13-17).
We ask that You would keep us faithful in prayer. Help us to discern choices and activities that may give the devil an advantage over us in these problems. Protect us with Your mighty hand!
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Prayer for Church Growth and Development: Prayer for the Body of Christ
1 Corinthians 1:10 tells us, “Now I beg you, brothers, through the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”
In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul is addressing the division in the early church due to people’s allegiance to one church leader or another. While Jesus being your church leader (v. 12) is, of course, the right choice, it was probably someone saying, “I am more spiritual than you and don’t have to listen to you.”
In our eternal life in heaven, followers of Christ will not be divided. We will see the foolishness of letting our preferences divide the kingdom of God. We’ll see where we fell on contentious issues that divide Christians. We will shake our heads at the efforts we took to take some stands against people who genuinely claim Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but don’t agree with every point of our own personal theology.
What if we prayed today to be united in love with our fellow believers? What if we set aside some issues that leave room for disagreement, and enjoyed fellowship with other believers?
While not suggesting that we all attend one church, we would benefit from praying for each other, and working together where we can.
“See how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity!” Psalm 133:1
Beyond our local church area, we can also be unified with other believers by showing support and care for Christians around the world! One excellent way to do that is to pray for the persecuted church – read this article for ideas on how to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters.
In this prayer for church growth and development, pray that our church will:
- Look for ways to be unifying, and not divisive
- Enjoy fellowship with other believers
- Pray for and encourage other Christians globally
Dear Lord,
We are thankful for our Christian brothers and sisters, both here and around the world! We look forward to heaven, where we can be in perfect fellowship with other believers.
Help us to see where we agree, and work from that common ground. May we not compromise in important areas, but please don’t let us focus on our disagreements. Convict us when we are being petty or trying to make ourselves look more spiritual.
We pray for our Christian brothers and sisters around the world, especially for those who do not have freedom to worship. We pray that You would strengthen them, and provide for them. Deliver them from those who would harm them.
We love you! In Jesus’ Name, Amen
Free Printable Prayer for Church Growth and Development
Download this prayer guide PDF here.
This prayer guide has 10 sets of prayer points for prayer for church growth and development. Each topic has a Bible verse and 3 powerful prayer points. It’s a great option for your own personal prayer time, for a prayer meeting at church, or for a small group Bible study. It can even be adapted for a portion of one of your church services.
Looking for Printables?
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Great things can be accomplished through prayer for church growth and development! Use these prayer points to help you pray specifically for your church’s health. May God bless the growth of your church today!
If you liked reading Prayer for Church Growth and Development, you may also like Prayer Points for the Church and Youth Prayer Points.