Prayer is an incredibly powerful tool for Christians. It’s an opportunity to speak honestly with God. While personal prayer will often be about your own life, we should also pray for others, and not just our loved ones.
Leaders need the collective prayers of Christians. And 1 Timothy 2: 1-4 pretty clearly outlines our Christian duty to pray for leaders!
If you’re not sure where to start, that’s okay. Praying for leaders doesn’t need to be a difficult task, or even a time-consuming part of your daily prayers.
If you’re ready to start praying for your leaders daily, these prayer prompts will help!
How to Start Praying for Leaders Daily
These daily prayer prompts are divided into four groups of leaders:
- government leaders
- community leaders
- church leaders
- family leaders
I’ve tried to use broad terms for different leadership roles, but you may need to adapt these prayer prompts for your own life. All prompts are gender-neutral since leaders are not limited by gender.
For each daily prayer prompt for leaders, try to include the following:
- Pray for each leader by name, as applicable.
- Thank God for at least one positive attribute of each leader–even if you disagree with this leader!
- Ask God to grant this leader wisdom and compassion.
- Ask God to surround this leader with wise and compassionate advisers.
- Pray for each leader’s relationships (spouses, children, parents, siblings, friends, other leaders).
- Pray for each leader’s responsibilities.
- Ask God to reveal Herself to this leader.
- Ask God to encourage this leader’s heart and to give them strength.
9 Days of Prayer for Government Leaders
No matter what the Disney song suggests, the world is a rather large place, with a large number of government leaders. Honestly, I could have written a list of 31 prayer prompts covering just government leaders. Instead, I’ve consolidated groups of leaders into 8 prayer prompts.
Each day covers more than one government leader. You can divide these into multiple prayers during a day, or you can spread out these prompts over more than a single day.
Day 1) Pray for your country’s top leader, like the president or the prime minister. Also pray for the second-in-command.
Day 2) Pray for the top leaders of the countries that border your own. Look up their names if necessary.
Day 3) Pray for your state or region’s top leader, like the governor. Also pray for the second-in-command.
Day 4) Pray for any state or regional leaders who represent you in a national Congress or Parliament.
Day 5) Pray for all elected and appointed leaders who serve at the local area. This might include the mayor, city council, and/or county council.
Day 6) Pray for all local leaders who represent you in your state or regional Congress or Parliament.
Day 7) Pray for all United Nations delegates. Look up your country’s delegate if necessary to pray for them by name.
Day 8) Pray for elected civil servants in law enforcement, like police chiefs and sheriffs. Look up their names if necessary.
Day 9) Pray for elected civil servants in the judiciary, like judges and district attorneys.
6 Days of Prayer for Community Leaders
Your community might not have the exact type of community leaders listed in these prompts. I have tried to keep each prayer prompt general, but I confess my knowledge is based on community leaders in American cities. Adjust the prayer prompts to match the leaders in your life.
Once again, these prayer prompts will have you pray for multiple leaders per prompt. Divide these up in the way most suitable to your prayer life.
Some leaders work quietly behind-the-scenes. For those situations, you can pray more generally for those leaders if you cannot find their names.
Day 10) Pray for all local church pastors, not just the ones at your own church.
Day 11) Pray for local nonprofit leaders. Consider chairpersons, boards of directors, coordinators, and other leaders in nonprofit work.
Day 12) Pray for the school superintendent and other educational leaders.
Day 13) Pray for school principals, vice-principals, coaches, directors, and other school leaders. If you have children in school, pray for their specific teachers as well.
Day 14) Pray for local journalists and other media personalities. This can include the editor of the local newspaper, local news anchors, local magazine editors, and more.
Day 15) Pray for local business owners.
10 Days of Prayer for Church Leaders
These prayer prompts are specifically for the leaders in your own church. My knowledge of churches primarily comes from the Presbyterian denomination, but I have tried to make each prompt as inclusive as possible. Like with all of these prayer prompts for leaders, adapt as needed for your own circumstances.
Most of these days include multiple leaders, depending on how your church operates. Adapt the prayer prompts and prayer schedule as needed.
Day 16) Pray for the pastors, ministers, or priests in your church.
Day 17) Pray for the spouses and other immediate family members of your pastors, ministers, or priests. For celibate church leaders, pray for any siblings or surviving parents.
Day 18) Pray for your church elders. If this is not an official designation, pray for older church leaders.
Day 19) Pray for your church deacons. If this is not an official designation, pray for church leaders who handle church operations.
Day 20) Pray for all Sunday School teachers and Bible Study teachers.
Day 21) Pray for all church leaders involved in children’s ministry and/or youth ministry. This can include the director of Christian education, the youth leader, nursery volunteers, and more.
Day 22) Pray for the choir director, the organist and/or pianist, and all choir members.
Day 23) Pray for the administrative staff, the janitorial staff, and any other paid employees of the church. If your church relies on consistent volunteers to operate, who aren’t otherwise listed, pray for them as well.
Day 24) Pray for any other small group leaders, like prayer circle leaders.
Day 25) Pray for future church leaders. Look at the young people in your church, and ask God to guide the right people into the right leadership positions, according to God’s will.
6 Days of Prayer for Family Leaders
Finally, prompts to help you pray daily for the leaders in your family. As applicable, consider your birth family, your chosen family, and your in-laws when interpreting these prayer prompts. Just because a type of family member is listed does not mean that person is actually a leader in your family. I trust your discernment in adapting these prayer prompts to your life.
Day 26) Pray for your parents and your grandparents. If you are older, pray for your adult children.
Day 27) Pray for your aunts and your uncles. If you are older, pray for your adult nieces and nephews.
Day 28) Pray for your great-aunts and great-uncles. If you are older, pray for your cousins.
Day 29) Pray for your parents’ best friends.
Day 30) Pray for your siblings.
Day 31) Pray for yourself. Even if you don’t think of yourself as a family leader, pray for your potential. Ask God to show you what role you should be taking in your family. (And know that it’s okay if God doesn’t call you as a family leader).
Final Thoughts on Daily Prayer
If you’re looking for more prayer resources, let me help. First, I have an entire series of prayer prompts, written to help focus your prayers for an entire month.
- 31 Days of Prayer to Cultivate Gratitude
- 31 Days of Prayer for Your Spouse (this includes an optional free prayer challenge!)
- 31 Days of Prayer for Women
I’ve also put together a FREE prayer guide printable!
Start praying for leaders daily with this 3-day prayer guide! Each day includes Bible readings, prayer prompts, and a sample prayer.
I hope these prayer prompts inspire your daily prayer life! Let me know what other prayer prompt topics you would like me to cover.
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