A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. (Proverbs 17:17)
A Prayer For Friendship
Lord Jesus, Thank you for giving me such a vibrant community of friends to do life with. I praise you for the people you have blessed me with, the ones who have come alongside me to love, encourage, support, and uplift me through all the twists and turns of life. I'm so grateful that I do not have to go through life alone, but that you have shown me examples of your love through my dear friends.
I pray that you would be present in my friendships, that you would be drawing us together in deeper community with one another toward greater unity with you. I pray that you would help heal any places of brokenness or discord in my friendships, and that you would restore any friendships that have fallen apart.
Like your Word says in Colossians 3:12-13, may I clothe myself in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. May I be patient with my friends, and may I forgive freely like you have forgiven me. May I shine your light in my friendships, giving glory to you through all that I do, say, and think. Thank you for my friends, Jesus. Thank you for the ways they build me up and remind me of your goodness and faithfulness. In your name I pray, Amen.
1 Thessalonians 5:11
11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
1 Corinthians 15:33
33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
Colossians 3:13
13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Ecclesiastes 4:9
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:
Ecclesiastes 4:10
10 If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.
Job 6:14
14 “Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
Job 42:10
10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.
Proverbs 16:28
28 A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.
Proverbs 17:9
9 Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.
Proverbs 18:24
24 One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Proverbs 27:9
9 Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice.
Psalm 133:1
1 How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!
Romans 12:10
10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
1 Peter 4:8-10
8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.
10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
John 15:12-13
12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Proverbs 17:17
17 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.
2 Kings 2:2
2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
Job 2:11
11 When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him.
Luke 6:31
31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
Proverbs 19:20
20 Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise.
Proverbs 24:5
5 The wise prevail through great power, and those who have knowledge muster their strength.
Proverbs 22:24-25
24 Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person, do not associate with one easily angered,
25 or you may learn their ways and get yourself ensnared.
Proverbs 13:20
20 Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 14:4-6
4 Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox come abundant harvests.
5 An honest witness does not deceive, but a false witness pours out lies.
6 The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.
Colossians 3:12-14
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Proverbs 27:5-6
5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
6 Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:
10 If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.
John 15:12-15
12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
14 You are my friends if you do what I command.
15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
Proverbs 27:17
17 As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
Job 29:4-6
4 Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house,
5 when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,
6 when my path was drenched with cream and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.
Proverbs 12:26
26 The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.
James 4:4
4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
Job 16:20-21
20 My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God;
21 on behalf of a man he pleads with God as one pleads for a friend.
