Welcome to season 2 of the Determined to Dance podcast. I pray that you’ll be uplifted, encouraged, and will move forward each and every day. Today’s episode, Praying for Others: Mature Believers, focuses on how to pray for people who have been long in the service of God.

Show Notes: Praying for Others: Mature Believers

Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve focused on praying for non-believers in Jesus and those believers fairly new to the kingdom of God. But what about the more experienced believer? Who exactly is a mature believer?

Maybe an eighty-year-old man who has studied the Word, prayed, and ministered in a local congregation from his youth. Or a young mother who prays with her children and teaches Sunday School. How about a young married couple who read the Bible together and are training to be missionaries?

All of the people above could be mature Christians. Now I don’t consider new Christians immature. They are young in the Lord and should focus on learning the basics of the Christian life, the art of prayer, repentance, faith, and connecting with a church and other believers. Hebrews 6:1-3 says in the New Living Translation: “So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely, we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.”

Paul is admonishing followers of God who are stuck in the basics, either too afraid, lazy, or passive to make Jesus not only the Savior but Lord over every part of their life. Philippians 3: 12-15a says “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things…” NLT

Paul admits he will never be perfect, complete, or reach full maturity here on earth. But he lets us know that the spiritually mature are forever moving forward, giving the past to God, and looking with anticipation to the future. The spiritually mature want to finish the race or follow God’s leading throughout their life, whether it’s ministering, raising a family, resting, or praying for those around them. They seek the heart of God and like Jesus, do what they see the Father doing. (John 5:19)

Now that we have a definition of a mature believer, how do we pray for one who has learned the basics and is following hard after the heart of God?

We pray for strength, stamina, and God’s anointing. Mature believers often do a lot of ministry work in churches or in the community. Relying on God’s strength, energy, and power is crucial.
We pray for a close relationship with Christ and discernment. Mature believers often pray as a ministry to the church or community and need to know God’s heart and His direction as they lift others to Him.
We pray for wisdom. Mature believers can have the opportunity to mentor younger Christians and need knowledge of the Word and the ability to share wise counsel.
We pray for their physical and emotional health. Mature believers can be an encouragement to the church but older mature Christians especially can suffer physically and, in their emotions, as they age.

We also need to pray because sometimes, as one matures in the Lord, we can be tempted to turn in the opposite direction and:

Try to control or be the boss in our church or the community.