Looking for some scriptures

[Big_Dummy]

Can you think of any scriptures where God specifically tells a person exactly what to pray for concerning another person in person. I am not looking for general statements about praying for one another. I am looking for something like God telling Abraham to pray for Lot about something specific in Lot’s life.

 

[Cachonga]

Would Luke 22:31-32 (“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren.” RSV) be acceptable?

 

[Big_Dummy]

No, not really that is Jesus telling Peter I am praying for you.

What I am looking for is a text where God is speaking to a person and telling that person to pray for a third party about something specific to the third party.

Keep thinking and thanks.

right now I am searching through the life of Abraham to see if there is anything there that would work.

 

[Ruthie_again]

Here are two from the Old Testament:

And the king said to the man of God, “Entreat now the favor of the LORD your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” And the man of God entreated the LORD; and the king’s hand was restored to him, and became as it was before.
1 Kings 13:6 (RSV)

After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eli’phaz the Te’manite: “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” So Eli’phaz the Te’manite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Na’amathite went and did what the LORD had told them; and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.
Job 42:7-9 (RSV)

I’ll join Cachonga in supporting Luke 22:31-32. Peter did indeed “turn again” after his 3 denials; and strengthened his fellow Apostles with his leadership. He continues to do so through his successors, the Popes.

 

[PJM]

=Big Dummy;6941588]Can you think of any scriptures where God specifically tells a person exactly what to pray for concerning another person in person. I am not looking for general statements about praying for one another. I am looking for something like God telling Abraham to pray for Lot about something specific in Lot’s life.

Luke 22: 31 -32"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren."

James: Jas.5: 14-15 Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven."

Prayer is a lifting of our minds and hearts to God

Matt.5: [44] But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Jesus praying:

Luke.22: [32] but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren."

John.14: [16] And I [Jesus] will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever,

John.17: [9] I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom thou hast given me, for they are thine; [15] I do not pray that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil one. [20] "I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word,

Acts 8: [24] And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

Acts 9: [40] But Peter put them all outside and knelt down and prayed; then turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, rise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.

Acts.12: [5] So Peter was kept in prison; but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

Acts.14: [23] And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they believed.

Acts.28
[8] It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery; and Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him healed him.

Love and prayers for you,
Pat

 

[Big_Dummy]

Hi guys, those are not answering the exact question I asked. I don’t want verses where a human asks another human to pray for them or a human tells another to pray for them. Those are too general. There are many general verses that tells us to pray for each other on earth.

What the question is in a nutshell is, where in scripture does God in person (say by vision - like with Peter on the rooftop in Acts or by dream like with Daniel learning the Kings’ dream or in a conversation like with Adam and Eve) *specifically *tells someone like Abraham to pray for someone like Lot because of the situation Lot is in, like in the cave with his daughters or living in sodom situation. I am looking for something very specific like this.

I am trying to get beyond knee jerk responses that others view as believers on earth being encouraged to pray for others in the body on earth.

Thanks for your (name removed by moderator)ut so far, and sleep on it.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

Job 42:6-9 is close

7 After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. 8 Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the LORD had told them; and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.

He tells the one to be prayed for, but presumably Job is there and hears. In any case he does as the Lord asks.

 

[Luke_K]

How about Raphael, an angel and thus a messenger of God, telling Tobit to pray with his wife before they consummated their marriage?:

Then when you are about to have intercourse with her, both of you first rise up to pray. Beg the Lord of heaven to show you mercy and grant you deliverance…
Tobit 6:18

God, speaking through his angel, was telling Tobit and his wife to pray for their own and each others’ safety from the demon who killed every husband Sarah had married.

And there’s the Immanuel prophecy from Isaiah:

Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: Ask for a sign from the Lord, your God; let it be deep as the netherworld, or high as the sky!
Isaiah 7:10

God was commanding Ahaz to pray for a sign of Judah’s deliverance from its encroaching enemies.

 

[Crumpy]

Well, BD, what point are you trying to make? Are you trying to say that God doesn’t want us to pray for anybody else? You describe yourself as a doubter, what is is that you are doubting?

I don’t have a photographic recall of verses, but perhaps you are familiar with the Israelite priesthood where priests offer sacrifices on behalf of the people who bring the offerings. It’s interesting that there was no ritual of prayer associated with most of those.

But, on the day of Atonement, the high priest offers sacrifice first for his own sins and then offers a sacrifice for the sins of the Israelites. Certainly the essence of intercessory prayer is captured in all of that. The high priest or other priests are involved in the other types of offerings. They’re all done through the intermediary of the levitical priesthood. It’s all intercessory.

If you take the Bible as the word of God, then here’s an example of intercessory prayer by Solomon:

2 Chron 6:41 And now,
"Advance, LORD God, to your resting place,
you and the ark of your majesty.
May your priests, LORD God, be clothed with salvation,
may your faithful ones rejoice in good things.

And, Moses

NUM 12:13 Then Moses cried to the LORD, “Please, not this! Pray, heal her!”

If I can find it, I have this book on Jewish traditions. When I find it, I’ll see what they say about prayer. But, in advance of that, prayer is BIG in Jewish traditions.

 

[Cachonga]

Big Dummy:

Hi guys, those are not answering the exact question I asked. I don’t want verses where a human asks another human to pray for them or a human tells another to pray for them. Those are too general. There are many general verses that tells us to pray for each other on earth.

What the question is in a nutshell is, where in scripture does God in person (say by vision - like with Peter on the rooftop in Acts or by dream like with Daniel learning the Kings’ dream or in a conversation like with Adam and Eve) specifically tells someone like Abraham to pray for someone like Lot because of the situation Lot is in, like in the cave with his daughters or living in sodom situation. I am looking for something very specific like this.

I am trying to get beyond knee jerk responses that others view as believers on earth being encouraged to pray for others in the body on earth.

Sounds like you’re looking for something like, “Then God spoke to Abraham, saying ‘Pray for Lot that he may escape the coming destruction of the cities of the plain.’” (Any Version, specific book, chapter, verse). I don’t think there’s any such verse to point to (even the one from Tobit is dubious, not just because I don’t believe Tobit is Scripture, but the message was delivered by an angel, not God, and concerned both Tobit and Sarah). I think my initial response was about the closest thing you’re going to get (remember, Jesus is fully God and fully man, and He prayed specifically for Peter to not fail).

At this point, I would join with Crumpy and ask - what are you getting at (hope I got the gist of the question right, Crumpy)?

 

[Mintaka]

It sounds like the OP is looking for examples of the Lord telling us what’s going on with somebody else. Which usually doesn’t happen in the Bible. Prophets are about as close as you get; but usually, God isn’t about news bulletins. When God does send a message about “Lo, this is what’s going on”, reactions are usually the hearer’s business. God doesn’t have to instruct them to pray.

Genesis 20:7 – God commands Abimelech to give Sarah back to Abraham

“Now therefore restore the man his wife, for he is a prophet: and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live.”

Leviticus and Numbers are full of instructions to priests to pray for people. Jeremiah, on the other hand, gets told not to pray for the people, because God is disgusted with them. Jesus specifically instructs us to pray for our enemies and persecutors.

 

[Big_Dummy]

Job 42:6-9 is close He tells the one to be prayed for, but presumably Job is there and hears. In any case he does as the Lord asks.

This is the closest so far, but the people are together on earth. I am looking for a case where the people are in seperate locations. Thanks for thinking and keep on doing so. As you know the saints are in one place heaven, whereas we are in another place on earth.

Technology, Abimelech Genesis 20, God does not tell Abraham directly In Person to pray for Abimelech, but tells Abimelech to seek out Abraham for prayer.

Basically, I am looking for a text where God tells someone like Abraham to pray for someone like Abimelech for whatever in vision, dream or conversation, directly. And, not one where God tells Abimelech to seek out Abraham.

Do we have any proof that people in heaven even have Visions or Dreams? After all, they would be in the state of being in the “perfect has come” I Cor 13:8, 10; I John 3:2.

I wonder if the minor prophets has anything. If you think about Amos, God gives him a series of dreams, visions and he as the result prays for Isreal and God “repents” from his judgement on them.

Does anyone know if there is a text where God speaks to a minor prophet telling him directly to pray for so and so or for Isreal?

 

[Big_Dummy]

How about Raphael, an angel and thus a messenger of God, telling Tobit to pray with his wife before they consummated their marriage?:

God, speaking through his angel, was telling Tobit and his wife to pray for their own and each others’ safety from the demon who killed every husband Sarah had married.

And there’s the Immanuel prophecy from Isaiah:

God was commanding Ahaz to pray for a sign of Judah’s deliverance from its encroaching enemies.

That looks like a good text, I’ll have to reread the book of Tobit sometime. As you know, this reference would be rejected because it is not considered to be scripture. Keep thinking along those lines, you may come up with something else like that in books that all consider to be scripture. One problem with this text is that they are being told to pray for themselves, not for another person in a different location.

thanks for thinking and keep your thinking cap on.

 

[Big_Dummy]

I guess the point is, people in heaven are in a different location from people on earth. The Hebrews 12:1-3 text goes with Hebrews 11 which is the testimonies of the Hall of faith as the cloud of witnesses, testifiers.

Therefore, for those in heaven to know what to pray about since they no longer have anything to do with anything done “under the sun” (Ecc 9:6), this would require them to be told information from God about their loved ones on earth. So, I am seeking out some texts where God works like that. Where God tells person A directly to pray for person B concerning the situation that person B is dealing with. If it can be shown that this is God’s M.O. then it would be reasonable for it to exend to communion of the saints.

Ecclesiastes 9:6
Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.

Another possiblity is for those in heaven to be like the Borg on startrack, where everyone hears the thoughts of others including the thoughts of God, but I find no scriptural evidence for that either. I am not even sure that we as creatures can even function like that.

Another possibility is angels tells people in heaven whats going on, but there is no scriptural example for that neither – all we have is angels going directly to God to worship in heaven.

Anotehr possibility that I think Augstine brings up, is someone who recently died passing on limited information to loved ones in heaven, but that information is not what is currently going on today on earth, just what happened yesterday like the souls in Rev 6 who are focused on seeking venengence against their slayers. But, even their communication is with God alone in that text.

Thanks for everyone’s (name removed by moderator)ut. Keep searching the scriptures. There may be something we all are overlooking.

 

[Crumpy]

1 sam xii 23 “Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you.” (Tanakh)

And, that’s you, too, “big dummy.”

 

[Crumpy]

Ecclesiastes 9:6
Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.

.

I seem to have run across a similar verse in Revelation, using a KJV, which goes something like this, ‘things of old shall be forgotten.’ Perhaps that is referring to an era after the final judgment. We may forget about those who didn’t make it into heaven, even our loved ones, because heaven might be intolerable without those people. So, there is forgetting so that the ecstacy of heaven will be complete.

 

[Crumpy]

here’s a scripture which is close that that desired:

Num 21:7 Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you. Pray the LORD to take the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people,

this is one of 18 ‘hits’ that I came across searching for “pray” in the Pentateuch. I don’t see anything directly like the OP requested.

 

[Big_Dummy]

thanks, but that is not an example of what I asked for.

If you believe God is telling people in heaven specifics of what to pray for concerning specific people on earth, then why is not God doing that on earth too?