Prayer points with Scriptures · 20 points
Prayer Points for Spiritual Growth
These prayer points for spiritual growth are for Christians who want to know God more deeply and become more like Jesus, and for small groups, discipleship partners and prayer teams praying for one another. They cover intimacy with God, growing in the Word, growing in prayer, Christlike character, and a faith that perseveres and bears fruit. Each point pairs a Bible verse with a short prayer that prays it.
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
2 Peter 3:18 (BSB)
Growth is God’s work in us by grace, so these prayers ask Him for it rather than promise to try harder. Pray one section a day for a week, or one point a day for a month. Read the verse slowly, pray the prayer, and sit with the verse for a moment before moving on. In a group, change I to we.
Knowing God
1Knowing Christ above everything
Lord Jesus, teach me to count everything as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing You. Loosen my grip on the things I treasure more than You, and make knowing You my greatest gain.
More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
Philippians 3:8 (BSB)2Seeking Your beauty
LORD, this is the one thing I ask: to dwell with You all the days of my life and gaze on Your beauty. Make time with You my desire and not my duty, and let me seek You first each day.
One thing I have asked of the LORD; this is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and seek Him in His temple.
Psalm 27:4 (BSB)3Remaining in Your love
Lord Jesus, as the Father has loved You, so You have loved me. Teach me to remain in Your love: to rest in it when I fail, to return to it when I drift, and to live from it every day.
As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Remain in My love.
John 15:9 (BSB)4You as my portion
God, whom have I in heaven but You? Be my one desire on earth. When my body and my heart fail, be the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth I desire no one besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:25-26 (BSB)
Growing in the Word
5A craving for Your Word
Father, give me a craving for Your Word like a newborn baby’s hunger for milk, so that I grow up in my salvation. Replace my distraction with appetite, and let me open my Bible because I want to.
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,
1 Peter 2:2 (BSB)6Eyes opened to wondrous things
Open my eyes, Lord, that I may see wondrous things in Your Word. When I read, show me Jesus, show me myself honestly, and show me one thing to believe and do today.
Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from Your law.
Psalm 119:18 (BSB)7Your Word hidden in my heart
LORD, I want to hide Your word in my heart so that I might not sin against You. Help me memorize Scripture, recall it when I am tempted, and love it more than the noise around me.
I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.
Psalm 119:11 (BSB)8Trained and equipped by Scripture
God, every word of Scripture comes from You and is useful for teaching, correcting and training me in righteousness. Let it correct me where I am wrong and equip me for every good work You have for me.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (BSB)
Growing in prayer
9Teach me to pray
Lord, teach me to pray, as You taught Your first disciples. Move me past hurried lists to real conversation with You, honest about my needs and glad to be in Your presence.
One day in a place where Jesus had just finished praying, one of His disciples requested, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
Luke 11:1 (BSB)10A secret place with the Father
Father, You see what is done in secret. Give me a quiet place and a set time to pray to You alone, with no audience to impress, and make that hidden time the root of everything else.
But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Matthew 6:6 (BSB)11Help when I do not know how to pray
Holy Spirit, thank You for helping me in my weakness. When I do not know how I ought to pray, intercede for me, and teach me to come to the Father anyway, with whatever words I have.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words.
Romans 8:26 (BSB)12Praying and thanking all day long
God, Your will for me in Christ Jesus is to rejoice at all times, pray without ceasing and give thanks in every circumstance. Turn my ordinary moments into prayer: driving, waiting and working.
Rejoice at all times. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (BSB)
Becoming like Jesus
13Transformed into His image
Lord, as I look to You, transform me into the image of Christ with ever-increasing glory. Change what I cannot change myself: my reactions, my habits, the way I speak to people I love.
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:18 (BSB)14A renewed mind
God of mercy, I offer myself to You as a living sacrifice. Keep me from being conformed to this world, and transform me by renewing my mind, so that I can recognize Your good, pleasing and perfect will.
Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:1-2 (BSB)15The fruit of the Spirit
Holy Spirit, grow Your fruit in me: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Show me where You are working on me now, and help me follow Your lead.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23 (BSB)16Christ living in me
Lord Jesus, I have been crucified with You, and You live in me. Teach me to live each ordinary day by faith in You, the Son of God, who loved me and gave Yourself up for me.
I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Galatians 2:20 (BSB)
Faithful and fruitful
17Running with endurance
Lord Jesus, author and perfecter of my faith, help me throw off every weight and the sin that so easily entangles me. Keep my eyes fixed on You, and give me endurance for the long race.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2 (BSB)18Growing through trials
Father, when trials come, help me remember that the testing of my faith develops perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work in me, so that I become mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James 1:2-4 (BSB)19Bearing much fruit
Lord, You are the vine and I am a branch. Keep me remaining in You, because apart from You I can do nothing, and let my life bear much fruit for the Father’s glory.
I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.
John 15:5 (BSB)20Confident You will finish Your work
Father, I am confident that You who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion. When my growth feels slow, keep me patient and trusting in Your faithfulness, not mine.
being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Philippians 1:6 (BSB)
A closing prayer
Lord Jesus, I want to know You more than I know anything else. Grow me in grace and in the knowledge of You. Give me hunger for Your Word, joy in prayer and a heart that loves what You love. Holy Spirit, make me more like Jesus, one ordinary day at a time. Father, finish the good work You began in me, and let my whole life bring You glory. Amen.
Pray with a voice
Short prayers with a voice to pray along with, each drawn from one passage.
Questions
How can I grow spiritually as a Christian?
The Bible describes growth as God working in us while we work out our salvation (Philippians 2:12-13). The ordinary means are reading and obeying Scripture (1 Peter 2:2), prayer, worship and fellowship in a local church (Acts 2:42), serving others, and trusting God through trials (James 1:2-4). Growth is usually gradual: believers are being transformed little by little (2 Corinthians 3:18).
What should I pray for intimacy with God?
Ask to know Christ above everything (Philippians 3:8), to seek God’s face and beauty (Psalm 27:4, 8), to remain in Jesus’ love (John 15:9) and to find God your portion (Psalm 73:25-26). Then make room for the answer: unhurried time in His Word, a regular place to pray alone (Matthew 6:6), and honest confession when you drift.
What Bible verse is about spiritual growth?
2 Peter 3:18 says, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Other key verses are Colossians 2:6-7 (rooted and built up in Christ), Ephesians 4:15 (growing up into Christ), 1 Peter 2:2 (craving pure spiritual milk) and Philippians 1:6 (God completing His good work).
More prayer points
Every verse on this page is quoted word for word from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), which its publishers dedicated to the public domain. Copy, print and share these prayer points freely with your church.