Do You Pray For Others?
When you tell someone you’ll pray for them, do you really take the time to do so? I’m very selective who I ask to pray for me because often I don’t think people take prayer requests seriously. Maybe we get so used to hearing them that they go in one ear and out the other or maybe, since it’s not our trial, we don’t take it to heart as we would were we the ones going through that situation.
“Bear ye one another’s burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). How many of us can truly say that we bear the burdens of others? I’ve seen even pastors not want to be burdened with the needs of others but I would put that in the category of “he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (1 John 4:20).
Are you a person people can trust not to talk about them to anyone but God and yet to faithfully talk to Him about them? I encourage you today to think about those who have asked you to pray for them and take some time to do just that.
Hi Sony. I used to be guilty of telling someone I’d pray for them, and although I had every good intention of doing so, I would many times walk away and not think of it again. One of the most important lessons that my pastor has taught me is to pray on the spot when asked. He has modeled that in his own life and I have learned to do the same by watching his example. Whether it’s in church, at Walmart, in a parking lot, in a waiting room, or wherever, when someone says, “pray for me about….”, I say, let’s pray now! I don’t have to remember to do it later (although many times I do and pray again), and it is also such a great witness to others about the importance of prayer. If it’s worth praying about…it’s worth praying about now! It also goes a long way in helping me to stay connected to God all throughout the day. No more promises to pray and then forgetting…it’s just done!
That is something I have started doing somewhat recently as well. Depending on the situation, I may not always pray with them on the phone but I will as soon as I hang up or as soon as I read the email or whatever. And I’ve started saying, “I’ll pray for you as God brings you to mind” because He is often faithful to do that.