Several years ago, I was given a glimpse into how one Houston family prays about their philanthropy. Parents and children gathered together around an outdoor table and bowed their heads in prayer, asking God for growing hearts of generosity and guidance in knowing which organizations to fund.
Then each family member shared about the different organizations they had researched for potential grants. Generosity and prayer were beautifully intertwined. That moment made a lasting impact on the way that I, too, want to approach generosity with prayer.
But I’ve come to realize that praying over our giving is just the beginning of how our prayers can be generous – and even spark greater generosity. Over the past three years as I researched and co-wrote the book Lead with Prayer, my co-authors and I had the privilege of interviewing incredible leaders like Joni Eareckson Tada, Francis Chan, John Ortberg, Mark Batterson, and global leaders serving in more than 100 countries. They shared openly about their regular rhythms of prayer, and often they offered to pray for us.
A common denominator among these world-changing leaders was the others-centeredness of their prayers. Certainly, they prayed for their families and organizations, but their prayers extended far beyond those in closest proximity to them. There’s no better description than to say they were generous with their prayers – and this specific form of generosity is one we all can emulate. Here are four generous prayer practices we learned from these praying leaders:
1. Pray right away
We learned from leaders we interviewed that even in large, publicly traded companies most people welcome an offer of prayer, especially in a time of need. One interviewee shared, “People might not be initially open to hearing the gospel, but … very few people are not open to taking the time and space to be prayed over.” Working within the Christian nonprofit sector, this practice feels still more accessible to me, yet it’s something I hadn’t frequently offered. Rather than just telling colleagues and friends I’ll pray for them after they’ve shared a need or a challenge, I can be generous with my prayers when I pause what I’m doing to bring their need before God then and there.
2. Pray for what is on God’s heart
My co-author Ryan Skoog shared a beautiful example of how being generous with his prayers led to financial generosity as well. Ryan had committed to spending time in prayer each week without asking God for a single thing, and so as he knelt one afternoon, he asked, “Jesus, what is on your heart? What can I pray for?” He heard the name of a country and began praying for Myanmar, knowing little of its specific needs. He recalls, “I felt a deep passion well up, and I began crying as I prayed for this country.” Since that time, Ryan has had the privilege of being involved in providing over 55 million meals to refugees in Myanmar. We believe that God will lead us to places of service when we take a generous posture in our prayers.
3. Pray for other organizations
God has laid a burden on my heart for those impacted by physical and spiritual poverty. It’s why I serve at HOPE International and why I pray for our work. But many other organizations also engage in meeting these needs that resonate so deeply with me. We are generous with our prayers when we pray, not only for our own work and organization, but also for the incredible work done by our peer organizations. Regularly, we pray for our friends at World Relief, OneChild, Compassion International, Seed Effect, Water Mission, Plant with Purpose, and many others. Our prayers are one simple way of remembering that God’s work is not limited to a single organization or sector: We serve Christ alongside a far broader group than any single organization can encompass.
4. Pray with thanksgiving for your colleagues
In the epistles, the apostle Paul mentions praying or prays in the text of his letters 36 times. Eighty percent of his recorded prayers are for others, most commonly those he met and mentored through his church-planting. In his prayers, Paul focuses on thanking God for others. He rarely prays for a change in their circumstances but frequently focuses his prayers on what God might be doing in the challenges.
How often do our prayers reflect that personalized care, and how often do they begin and end with gratitude? To help me pray for those I serve alongside, I’ve printed an organizational chart with the name of every HOPE employee. And sometimes my prayers are simply thankfulness for these colleagues.
Just as prayers inform our generosity, we pray that generosity will characterize our prayers. God moves through our prayers and generosity alike, inviting us to play a role in his work in our world. Lord, teach us to pray!
