This daily prayer is for the people who gather in a small group, whether that is a Bible study, a home fellowship, a prayer circle or a class of friends who meet each week. Pray it at the start of your day, or at the start of your group’s meeting, when you want to ask God to hold each person and the bond between them. You can read it aloud exactly as written, or use it as a starting point and speak in your own words.
Daily Prayer for a Small Group
Lord, thank you for the people you have placed around this table. Some of them I see every week and some I only know through the prayer requests we share. Be near to each one of them today. Be near to the ones who are tired from work and from caring for children or aging parents, and to the ones who are quietly carrying a diagnosis, a broken relationship or a worry they have not yet said out loud. Give them rest where they need it and courage where they need that.
Make us a group that listens well. When someone speaks, help us to hear what they mean and not only what they say. Keep our words kind and our silences patient. Where there is disagreement or hurt between us, go ahead of us and soften our hearts. Teach us to confess quickly and forgive freely, so that nothing stands between us and the work you want to do in this room.
Let our time together point beyond ourselves. Give us eyes for the neighbor who never comes to church, the coworker who is lonely, and the family in our town that does not know anyone is praying for them. Send us out of this group with an open hand and a willing heart. We ask all of this in the name of Jesus, who gathered his first friends around him and still meets with us now. Amen.
A Shorter Version to Pray in a Moment
Father, bring our group to mind right now. Be with each person I love in this circle and with the ones I find hard to love. Keep us honest, gentle and faithful to one another today. Help us listen more than we speak, and help us remember that we are not doing this alone. Thank you for the company of these people. Amen.
Scriptures to Pray Alongside
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. 10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls, and doesn’t have another to lift him up.
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Pray this when your group feels thin or your own strength is low. Thank God that two people working together accomplish more than one, and ask him to help each member lift another when they fall.
Romans 12:15
Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep.
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Use this verse to ask for the grace to celebrate and to grieve with one another. Name the joys and sorrows you know about in the group, and ask God to give you a sincere heart for each one.
Hebrews 10:24-25
24 Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as you see the Day approaching.
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Pray this for the habit of meeting together. Ask God to stir up love and good deeds in each member, and to keep your group encouraging one another as the day you meet draws near.
Philippians 2:3-4
3 Doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself; 4 each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.
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This is a good prayer when pride or impatience creeps into the room. Ask God to give everyone a humble mind, so that each person looks to the interests of others as well as their own.
Proverbs 27:17
Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend’s countenance.
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Pray this when the group needs sharpening, whether that means better questions, deeper honesty or fresh ideas. Thank God for the way people shape one another, and ask him to make every conversation a little more useful.
How to Pray This Prayer
Many people find that early morning works well, before the phone and the inbox fill up. Sit somewhere quiet with a cup of coffee or tea and keep a small notebook nearby. As you pray, write down the names of the people in your group and one specific need for each. Carry that list with you through the day and pray it again at lunch or during your commute.
If you lead the group, consider reading this prayer at the start of your meeting with the members holding hands or simply sitting in a circle. Invite someone else to pray the closing line, so that everyone has a part. A group member who is far away can be included by texting them the prayer, or by asking them to pray it in their own kitchen at the same hour.
A Blessing to Close
May the Lord bless each person in this group and keep them close. May he make his face shine on them and give them peace that does not depend on how the week is going. May the love they show one another grow deeper with every meeting, and may they be a steady light to the people who sit beside them.
