When a friend is struggling and there is little you can do, prayer is never nothing. This is a prayer to hold them up before God when you can't fix what they're facing.
The prayer
Father, I bring my friend to you. You know exactly what they are carrying, better than I do, and you love them more than I ever could.
Meet them where they are. Give them strength for today and hope for tomorrow. Send help through people around them, and let them feel that they are not alone.
Where I can be of use to them, make me willing and wise. Where I can only wait and pray, help me do that faithfully.
Hold my friend close, Lord. Be to them everything they need. Amen.
Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
To pray for someone is one of the truest things you can do for them. You are asking the God who loves them most to draw near — and he delights to answer that kind of prayer.