How do you feel when you think about praying for yourself?
As women, I think we often see the importance of praying for others. We pray for our children, our husbands, our family, our friends, our difficult situations. But what often happens when we think about praying for ourselves?
We believe that we are being selfish.
Why is that?
*Maybe we feel there are so many other needs that are so much more important than our own, so praying for ourself takes away from praying for others.
*Maybe we feel that if we pray for ourselves, we are being ungrateful to God. He has done so much for us already. How could we ask for more?
*Maybe we feel as if we are not trusting God if we pray for our own concerns and needs. He has a plan for us, right? Asking for things for ourselves may sometimes make us feel as if we are taking matters into our hands rather than trusting Him.
These are all common thought process we have, especially those of us who deal with perfectionism. Perfectionism has a myriad of ways of keeping us from taking care of ourselves in a healthy manner. But let’s see what we can do to get beyond what perfect says we should do and instead, let’s focus on what the Bible says.
We’ll find some insights in these two verses:
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? You were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, NKJV)
Dear friend, I pray that you may prosper in every way and be in good health physically just as you are spiritually. (3 John 1:2, HCSB)
Our bodies are the temple of Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). Are we going to leave the temple in disarray? If we don’t focus on praying for ourselves that is exactly what we are doing. We need to be tapping into the power of prayer (especially the power of praying Scriptures) in order to keep ourselves spiritually fit.
We were bought with a price. (Jesus died on the cross for us.) We are commanded to glorify God in our bodies and spirit. This means taking care of ourselves, spending time keeping our hearts and minds focused on Him, and making every effort to move toward becoming all that God calls us to be. This doesn’t happen without prayer!
Ladies, it is not selfish to pray for yourself. God desires us to bring our specific needs and our thoughts and dreams to Him. He sees us for who we are, and He loves us just as we are. He wants us to seek Him in total honesty. If we are humble and willing, He will help us learn how to pray more intentionally and that includes praying for our own needs!
Ladies, it is not selfish to pray for yourself!Click To TweetThere is no better way to do this than to pray His very words back to Him. In 3 John 2 we find that the phrase “be in good health” means functioning such that all the parts work together. We are a body with working parts. Spiritually speaking we also have different areas of function, just like our body has different parts with different functions.
What if we take God’s Word and pray it over the different areas of our spiritual lives? This is a very powerful thing to do! The Bible tells us that His Word does not return void and will accomplish that which it was sent to do.
So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11, NIV)
God’s Word will accomplish the purposes for which He sent it! (Isaiah 55:11)Click To Tweet
We need to believe this truth and actively pray His Word. When you pray over Scripture for yourself, and when you ask for your specific needs you are filling yourself up with truth. You are inviting the power of God to keep your mind and heart pure and to lead and guide you. In this way, you become transformed and renewed and can then go out to do all that he has called you to do. Would that be a selfish thing to do? Absolutely not!
But we have an enemy that is blinding us to the truth! He does not want us to pray for ourselves! This is 
why he sends feelings of guilt and places lies in our minds that tell us praying for ourselves is a selfish thing to do. Let’s defeat him by actively praying scriptures daily and asking God for our needs!
Pick up my free prayer guide to help you learn to pray Scriptures for your life and relationships by filling out the form below. ⤵️
What if we take God’s Word and pray it over the different areas of our spiritual lives? This is a very powerful thing to do!Click To TweetAlways remember, God’s Word accomplishes what He desires! And He desires that we be whole and complete, fully equipped by His strength and the power of His Word to go out and do all that He is calling us to do!
Focus Verses
Each verse listed in this article is linked to its page at Bible Hub. You will find many resources there for deeper study.
Let’s Talk
What are your favorite verses to pray over your life? I’d love it if you’d leave them in the comments below! What you share will encourage and help someone else!
Let’s Pray
Dear Heavenly Father, We ask you do guard our minds and hearts against the lies of the enemy. We ask you to take away any guilt or feelings of selfishness as we pray these verses over ourselves this week. Help fill our minds with truths and renew and transform our lives through Your Word. In Jesus name, Amen.
This post may be linked in other encouraging places. Click HERE to find out where!
The post How to Claim 7 Verses That Will Equip You for Life! first appeared at www.journeytoimperfect.com.
I came across your post on Pinterest, I’m a young lady on a journey of having a deeper relationship with God receiving materials will equip me in my journey. I will be grateful if you could share more resources on how to strengthen my relationship with God and have an understanding of who God is.thank you very much
Christabel, I send letters to my subscribers that talk about how to strengthen our relationship with God. If you add your email to pick up the Hope Kit Prayer Guide (in the right sidebar of my home page), you will receive these emails. Blessings!
Heavenly father thank you for the comforting words I received through this article, I was burden but now I feel lighter. Thank you for posting may the Lord bless and reward you for your sacrifices of love.
Leslie❤️
I just found you in Pinterest & signed up.
I am a Widow of 5 years.
Having so many storms and needing a friend in Jesus❤️
Thanking God for sending you to me🌹
Di🦋
Di, I’m so glad you are here! I’m so sorry about how hard things are for you and for your loss. It feels like too much I’m sure. I’m so thankful that we have Jesus as times like this. I just prayed for you. Praying you’ll feel the peace that passes understanding. Blessings to you!
Leslie,
Yesterday, I found your website on pintrest. Earlier in the day I had sat down feeling extremely defeated & desperate. I have migraines on a regular basis. This causes great pain & a lot of times blurred vision, making it hard to do a Bible study or simply read the Bible. I listen to worship music often & talk to the Lord during these times. I was so glad to find a place that has so much already laid out for me. When I am in pain, I don’t have the physical strength to get my Bible & look up the verses that a study is asking for.
Thank you for literally saving me from extra pain & giving me hope & my joy back simply by providing the scriptures with what you are teaching at the time.
Anna, I am so very thankful that you have found encouragement here. God is good at sending us to the exact place where we can find the kind of help we need. He has done that for me so many times in directing me to other good resources. He is our strength and portion forever! (Psalm 73:26) I truly appreciate you sharing your experience here and I know what you have written will encourage others who come here behind you. Your words are a blessing and encouragement to me! Thank you for sharing!
This made me think of the unity prayer circle at church last night….after hearing everyone else’s prayer requests I felt awkward and a bit embarressed to ask for my own requests as they seem so trivial and not as dire as everyone else’s requests that I apologized for even asking for my own but I did so after apologizing….you see there are so many in my church family who are struggling with all sorts of cancers and addictions that my aches and pains I was wanting prayer for left me feeling shameful. I know in my heart I should be grateful for the opportunity to ask for my own needs in prayer …thanks for such a timely message! I know God is working on me through it! <3 to you all!
Patty, Thank you for sharing this. It can be so uncomfortable, especially when in a group setting. I’m glad this message came at the right time for you! Blessings!
It’s so important to pray for God’s work in our lives and what better way than praying the Scriptures! Thanks for sharing.
You are welcome, Donna! Thank you for stopping by!
Leslie, I love how you address women feeling selfish when we pray for ourselves.
One verse I’ve been praying for myself lately is Psalm 91. So encouraging.
Alana, Thanks for dropping by! I love Psalm 91 and have been reading it quite a bit lately, too! Blessings!
Leslie, I always say that praying for ourselves first is like the instructions we get before a flight – to put on your own oxygen mask before helping others. If we’re not breathing well ourselves, we are not much use in helping those around us.
I love this, Rachel! So true! Thank you for visiting today. : )
Powerful and yet- easy reminders. How silly I am that I think of myself last! It must be the mother in me. 🙂 Thanks for the reminder Leslie. I enjoy your post!
April, The mother in me does the same thing. : ) Thank you for stopping by and for commenting!
This was great, wonderful message. It reminds me of a message I heard at Life.Church a few years ago, each day pray “God, today I submit my mind, my eyes, my mouth, my ears, my hands, my feet, my heart, my whole life to you.”
Thank you LeNae. That’s a great message you heard! I appreciate your visit today!
There is power in praying the Scripture. God loves to hear HIS WORD repeated back to Him!
Yes! For sure! Susan!
Hi Leslie. I found your post on FB today, and I’m so glad I did! You are right, praying for myself isn’t selfish, yet I used to feel guilty about that, but my faith has grown much since letting go of that guilt. I can’t wait to check out your printables! Blessings to you, friend!
Such a practical and biblical post, Leslie! Yes, praying for ourselves should be something we do daily. I was astonished when I was talking with my small group Bible study the other day about this very topic. Many of the women didn’t pray for themselves because they felt that was indeed selfish. So I will be directing them to your post. Thanks also for encouraging us to pray Scriptures. I find that to be so comforting and powerful, but it’s an tapped resource of God’s power for many. Great post, my friend!
Hi Beth, Thank you for the kind words. You are right, praying the Scriptures is an untapped resource. We can’t go wrong when we are praying God’s Words right back to Him. And they are so powerful, too! Blessings!
Leslie – you have some great one liners – “God’s word will accomplishes exactly what He desires” .. and another of my favorites and I was reading was… “But we have an enemy that is blinding us to the truth! He does not want us to pray for ourselves!” I love that you are going to tackle the topic of perfectionism over the next few weeks – such a good topic. I am your neighbor today at #TellHisStory today
Hi Debbie! I always love being your neighbor. : ) Thank you for visiting today and for commenting!