Christians: What do you think of the phrase "I covet your prayers"?

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This is a word that got corrupted and originally meant to 'desire eagerly',
and comes from 'cupere' to desire. It means the person values you,
thinks highly of you. It's like what happened to 'gay', which was stolen
and twisted. See it as the compliment and good thing it is actually
meant to be. It is blessing you. But this word was twisted to mean
the opposite....Show more

Coveting Definition...Show more

But here’s my problem . . . since coveting is obviously one of the big no-no’s of the Ten Commandments, how did this ever become a “Christian” phrase? This makes about as much sense as me saying, “I am lusting after the young people in my community to come to Christ!” Or how about, “I have a murderous desire to teach the Word of God.” Both of these latter examples do a good job of describing a particular sentiment, but we would all agree they are not appropriate. If these latter examples are not appropriate, how can the former phrase be appropriate? It isn’t.



My next question is . . . when Christians use this phrase, do they think about the biblical definition of “covet” and misuse it anyway or are they simply repeating “Christian” verbiage without any thought process? Whatever the answers may be, they are both bad.



So, please . . . for goodness sake . . . l covet your attention to this matter . . . Oops, I mean I desire your attention to this matter. (Did you notice how acceptable “covet” was in this sentence because of the numerous times you and I have heard it misused?)...Show more

Covetousness, like jealousy, is not always bad. If we covet things that are good for our souls and are not being taken away from others, then it is fine. A Christian who lives in a country where Bibles are being burned, he might rightly covet his own Bible.

If I say "I covet your prayers", it is just another way of saying that I want you to pray for me often. If I tell you to not pray for others simply because I want your prayers, then that is sinful....Show more

Hi Martin,

Can you give me the verse reference where these words appear? I tried finding in in two or three references in that exact wording, but could not find it.

Covet are used in examples of good things as well eg 1Cor 12:31 But covet earnestly the best gifts...
In this verse Strong´s give the original Greek word as zeloo(a form of zelos), that should give you a clue (zealous?). The Strongs gives sinonyms for covet here as desire, eagerly desire, show zeal, affect, feel an attitude or emotion of deep concern. It also gives examples of the word in a bad context, jealous, zealously desire etc. Thus I do not think the word covet is the bad one, I think it is the combination of words around it, that lends it a specific meaning.

Thus, I would say that God really seek our prayers. He desires it strongly. It affects Him deeply. God wishes to communicate with us. He wishes to be in conversation to us. The way we join this conversation is through prayer....Show more