“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:11
Prayer Warrior
It’s a term we all recognize. I have used it, my pastor has used it, and probably every Christian I’ve been blessed to schmooze with through the years, has used it. We use the expression because it best 
describes the actions of those of the faith who earnestly lift others in prayer; who consistently and persistently go before the Lord with all requests, supplications, intercessions, and thanksgivings, and often time while possessing prayer lists and maintaining prayer logs. They are classified as our ‘go to’ people within the body of Christ when an appeal, a plea, or petition is desired. That brings me to a twofold question:
“Is the label right (and by ‘right’ I mean Biblical), and is it harmful?”
I’ll explain. First…
Is it Biblical?
The short answer is, I don’t believe so. While there are certainly folks in the church who fit the definition, I’m not convinced God would concur that a special designation is called for. Is being a prayer zealot a gift of the Holy Spirit? If so, I’m not seeing it. The Bible records three main passages regarding spiritual gifts: Romans 12:6-8;1 Corinthians 12:4-11; and 1 Corinthians 12:28. According to the list, we see…
Prophesying, serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leadership, mercy, the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, distinguishing between spirits, speaking in tongues and interpretation of tongues, helps, governments, and diversities of tongues.
But, I don’t see prayer warrior on the list.
I suppose you could make an argument that tenacious prayer falls under one (or more) of these categories, but I sense that’s when we begin to stretch the doctrine a little too thin. Let’s be honest, prayer is a vital component of each of these giftings, but is not the actual gift.
Is it Harmful?
Yes, I believe it is, and I’ll tell you why — our Father in Heaven desires that we all pray in this manner. Could we really believe that the Lord would want us to delegate our conversation to somebody else; someone who we perceive is better at it then we are? Where in the Bible does God suggest to us to go find a prayer warrior, or even to make a separate distinction? Nowhere that I can find, but I do see this…
“In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.” Acts 10:34
Elevating someone to the status of prayer warrior may encourage the believer who happens to fit the mold, but it simultaneously sends an erroneous message that this person is gifted in a way that we are not, and therefore, we have been relieved of this duty. Do we really believe that? Aren’t prayer warriors doing the very thing that we are called to do? Wouldn’t it be more accurate to say that prayer warriors are obedient, rather than gifted? Finally, should we be seeking out a prayer mediator when the Father has already provided us one?
“For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus”
Haven’t we also been given a Helper in our pursuit of prayer?
“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Romans 8:26
Here’s the truth — God desires all His children pray in this manner! The fact that you don’t now is not the point. God never intended that in your discouragement (in this regard) you turn to another Christian, but rather you turn to Him. Therein lies the point!
Look at these directives from God’s word…
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
There is nothing in there that remotely suggests we find a prayer warrior to do this for us.
Pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17-19
Do you see anything in there that implies this is somebody else’s job? Me either. The one thing that does jump out at me [is] that if we’re not praying like this, we’re throwing water on the fire that is the Holy Spirit. That cannot be good.
One more…
“Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints” Ephesians 6:17-18
The Last Word
Try to look at like this — it’s the church (not God) that has created a prayer warrior status. When we serve to encourage others with the moniker, it is a wonderful, Christian gesture, but what we’re really saying (when we use the term), is that we recognize there is a great void within the body Christ that only very few are filling. It might be better to recognize this Christian’s faithful obedience instead. May I suggest that the next time we sense the need to identify another believer in this manner, that we also ask the Lord to examine our own hearts to determine why the title is not befitting for us. The question should not be, “Lord, why am I not a prayer warrior,” but rather, “Why am I not submitted to Your will in my life?”
Am I suggesting we should not seek out others to pray for us?
Heaven forbid!
We are called to pray for one another. I’m saying that there is not a circumstance to ever shy away from being the type of communicant the Lord wants us to be or to relegate the duty to someone else. God wants to talk with us directly and has fully equipped us to be fervent communicators.
Talk — God is listening.
These articles may or may not be related:
- The Power of Prayer & The Spoken Word (walkingwithawarrior.com)
- Unanswered Prayer ~ (poetrybydeborahann.wordpress.com)
- The Incense of Prayer (shawnethomas.com)
- Types of Prayer – 3 (Thank Him for What He Has Done and Will Continue to Do) (watchandprayblog.wordpress.com)
- Girls With Swords: Chapter 6 – “Becoming A Warrior” – “Saul’s Warrior Son” (Pgs 90-98) (girlfriendscoffeehour.com)
- I Got My Name (kelund.wordpress.com)
- The Pros and Cons of Being a Prayer Warrior (rosemichels.wordpress.com)
- Urgent Prayer Need Calling All Prayer Warriors! (deweymoede.wordpress.com)
- TALKing with God (via Kindling) (thesovereign.wordpress.com)
- I GET to go again. (heatherlconrad.com)
If you enjoyed the post please like it, share it, comment on it, or subscribe to it. Frankly, I am blessed that you stopped by to read it today. God bless you too!
He Dwells -- The B'log in My Eye 
[…] Suggested reading: Don’t Call Me a Prayer Warrior […]
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This is an awesome word. I was searching in the internet concerning this specific subject and all I kept getting was scriptures referring back to “prayer”, not quite what I was looking for!! However your article is exactly what God placed on my heart about “prayer warriors”. I’m an avid reader of the word of God and I can’t say I’ve ever heard the specific phrase being used in the Bible. Therefore it bothers me that for some years now that phrase is thrown to us Christians like it’s in the Word. Thank you for the article. It brought clarification and conformation.
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Thanks for reading. God bless!
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I do agree that there are numerous spiritual gifts however I believe that they also cannot be successfully carried out without the help of Prayer without praying in the spirit without the aid of Jesus Christ who sits at the right hand of the father continually making intercession for the Saints and the Apostle Paul recognized that he had the important role of stirring up and encouraging others the faith that he had demonstrated to others when he stated I thank God that I pray in tongues more than you all so I was challenged to read this article because I know I am not a prayer Warrior but if people put that off as a moniker they would do well to remember that God will share his glory with no one and we should all look to him for our sufficiency and then we should definitely go to him in prayer even as Jesus taught the disciples that he is our heavenly father and we have the blessing of bold access to him into the very throne room of Heaven because of Jesus
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The last few years I have become very aware of many “traditions of men” that the church culture has accepted that are not Biblical. I have almost 40 years of incorrect doctrine to sift through. I am trying to evaluate every term and every belief I have become so familiar with over those years and check it with the Scriptures… IN CONTEXT. Today I was called a prayer warrior and I knew I had to evaluate its origin. I thought of some of the harmful conclusions. (That you covered) Mostly that God has favorites. As though he hears one believers prayer more than another. One of the truths that has help me stay aligned in God’s Word is positional truth. As believers we have one position …IN CHRIST. That’s how the Father sees us! There exists no greater position to come to the Father.
When I wanted to make sure I was not missing anything in Scripture I googled it and got your blog. It’s encouraging to read others who address truth.
I use to think my husband (a pastor) was being nit picky with correcting certain Christian terms, but in the last couple years as we have been re-evaluating I have seen he is correcting possible errors from these terms that will lead us to incorrect doctrine. Thanks for the edification. I look forward to sharing your blog with him later today 😊
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Thank you, Sandie! I am blessed that you were somehow blessed. God’s blessings for you and your family.
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hey who is the artist of the picture
?
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I don’t know. If you find out, please post it here.
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Yes, prayer warriors are obedient rather than gifted. They understand submission to God by seeking his will. I trust that God hears me when I pray. I believe he listens and gives to me whatever is right and good. The veil was torn at the point of Christ’s death. Believers have access to the throne of Almighty God. We go to the throne! Imagine that!
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Amen!
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Another wonderful message from which I learned so much. These are great points….and all backed by scripture, our spiritual barometer.
Speaking of “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus“ (1Tim 2:5), this also supports the error of seeing God’s mother, Mary (with all due respect), as one to whom to pray to mediate for us. Also, why pray to St. Anthony when you are looking for something or bury a statue of St. Joseph upside down in your front lawn when you are trying to sell your house when the Lord Jesus Himself is but a prayer away?
Although I don’t pray to her (anymore), I DO love the Blessed Mother because she loved and took care of the Lord Child, Jesus. She nourished His body with good food, gave Him baths, cuddled Him and sang Him lullabies when He was sleepy, wiped His tears when He skinned His knees, kept Him safe and warm for as long as she could, hugged and kissed Him, and showered Him with a doting mother’s love. She was a wonderful example of an obedient child of God with an incomparable faith in HER Savior, Jesus Christ.
Sorry to digress but, for me, praying that someone else prays for your needs seems to tie into the subject of this excellent post. Thank you, always, David. You continually help to illuminate God’s Word for me. God bless you!
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Thanx Brenda, that’s all good stuff. Truth is that when I posted the 1 Timothy verse, I was thinking the same kinda stuff. Thank you for the kind words, blessing, and encouragement, Brenda. Right back at ya!
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We are called to prayer as we all should know. Jesus actually taught us HOW to pray not WHAT to pray when he gave us the example in what we call The Lord’s Prayer. He meant we should keep it simple and to the point asking in faith and believing He answers. God actually knows the desires of our hearts before we ask anything of Him and I believe that when we are sensitive to The Holy Spirit we receive in our thoughts that which we ought to be praying for and we can also pray in tongues if we have that gift not knowing what we are praying but knowing that God does! We must also pray as little children with innocence and simplicity placing all our hope and trust in Him to give us what we ask for. ‘Abba, Father, Aunt Mary isn’t feeling well today and I know you don’t want her to be sick so I ask you Father to make her well again, thank you Father’……short and sweet and from the heart and asked in faith. God doesn’t want us going on and on and on with many words yet saying nothing. We don’t need to ask others to pray when we can do it ourselves but that doesn’t mean we should never ask others to join with us in prayer. A cord of three strands is hard to break isn’t it?
Shirley Anne x
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Amen!
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I gave your post a LIKE even though you ping’ed one of my blog posts in your article. LOL You’re absolutely right in that we are ALL called to pray like this. You captured the ‘Con’ part of my post perfectly. Oh how I wish all Christians prayed without ceasing. It is sad when you have to do a ‘go to’ to ‘get’ prayer when your knee bowed is as good as mine … or other prayer ‘people’. 🙂
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Thank you Rose – may your day be Jesus-filled!
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