Prayers about Love
David W Palmer
(1 Timothy 1:5 NKJV) Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith.
(Matthew 22:37–40 NKJV) Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ {38} This is the first and great commandment. {39} And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ {40} On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Jesus expects us to love; love is the goal of the commandment. What’s more, the rewards for loving God, his family, and even our enemies are truly amazing and exceedingly desirable. That’s why the Holy Spirit has poured God’s love into our hearts (Rom. 5:5).
These truths are amazing, encouraging, and very motivating; but how do we get all of this to actually operate in our everyday lives? Is there some key to make it an experienced reality, or is love just a nice theory?
Maybe the solution is simply to use such strong will power that we love by sheer resolve of good choices. But even if we could force ourselves to love purely, this would still not please God; he is not impressed with any of our self-effort, self-sufficiency, or self-achievement:
(Psalm 147:10–11 NLT) He takes no pleasure in the strength of a horse or in human might. {11} No, the LORD’s delight is in those who fear him, those who put their hope in his unfailing love.
(Hebrews 11:6 NKJV) But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
(John 15:5 NLT) “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.
From us, God longs for faith—the kind that trusts him to move through us. In other words, the kind of love God requires of us takes a supernatural intervention by him into our world. The only way this can happen is by abiding in Jesus—the living word—and then through our faith and prayers. But what should we pray?
Let’s look at some Holy Spirit-inspired prayers in the New Testament regarding love. Praying them will be in line with God’s will, and will be an important key to receiving his help and empowerment to love others with his love; thus, unlocking the love that can fulfill God’s expectation and receive all the wonderful benefits of loving God, his people, our enemies, etc.
1. That Love May Abound
(1 Thessalonians 3:12 NKJV) “And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you.”
(1 Thessalonians 3:10–13 NLT) “Night and day we pray earnestly for you … may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. {13} May he, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy …”
The first Holy Spirit-inspired prayer for love that we look at is here in 1 Thes. We see the apostle Paul confirming that it is the Lord who can “make your love … grow and overflow.” Self-effort in love is not what God wants; he wants our faith—as expressed in our prayer, our words, and our actions. He wants us to believe that he will “make” your love grow and overflow.
God’s wise desire that we love like he does is not meant to condemn us to inextricable guilt; believing for him to enable us to fulfill his requirement is a joyous freedom, which releases life and brings buoyancy in our relationship with him. God’s love will fill you, overflowing in praise and gratitude to him and extraordinary love flowing out to others.
The apostle Paul then describes the result of God’s answer to this prayer: “make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy.” Each of these is a completely desirable blessing:
