Prayer requests

 

The little girl knelt by the bed and poured her heart into her prayer. Her mom bowed her head, too, and listened to her sweet words. When she was finished, she climbed into her bed, and her mom tucked her in, saying, "I'll be praying about that, too, dear," hoping that this would add to the little one's comfort as she drifted off to sleep.

"Oh, you don't have to do that, Mommy, Jesus heard me. And He only needs to hear it once!" The mother smiled and kissed her good night, heartened by her child's simple and pure faith.

Of course, He heard it the first time. 

And he heard it when the mother prayed, too. 

Why DOES God want us to pray for others? Well, for one thing, it reflects our Savior's character of love and mercy -- He wants us to think like He does, and praying for other people helps us to think beyond ourselves. It puts our focus on others and how to help them. It helps us to grow more like Him and have compassion for other people.

Now, one thing that prayer is NOT, is a numbers game. God isn't keeping count, so that when ten, or thirty-five, or a hundred people pray about something, He intervenes. Prayer isn't a petition that He has to act on if enough people "sign on." Our prayers are not going to force God to do anything; He acts when the time is best. Intercessory prayer is not a way for us to keep score and earn points, either. We can't pile up prayers for other people and "cash in" later when something bad happens in our lives. When we pray, we are to be motivated by love. We pray because of unselfish concern for others.

What about the person that needs prayer? Can that person ask other Christians to pray and then just forget about it? Not worry about praying themselves? In a word, no . . . we can't delegate prayer like we assign tasks in an office setting. (Grin) Prayer is part of our own, personal, intimate relationship with a God Who knows all about us. It's a time for us to talk fervently with Him, whether other believers are praying with us, or not. 

We should pray from the heart, and be fully engaged and compassionate about the people we pray for. We should pray often - in Matthew Jesus told us to pray, "Give us this day," and so I believe He is telling us that prayer should be a regular and often-used part of our day. And we should pray in detail - even though, as the little girl said, "He only needs to hear it once," God wants us to come to Him with our specific requests. He LIKES to hear from us! The Bible compares our prayers to incense, and says that God loves prayers that are detailed and thoughtful . . . those are more pleasing than a rushed, "bless everybody" type of prayer!

Pray for others knowing that God has all power, and that He, too, loves the people we are praying for. And finally, let's pray for others with an eye toward helping where and when we can. This might include an encouraging card or email, or a phone call or visit (after the Covid dies down). 

I hope that if you are reading here today, and you have a prayer request, that you will leave us a comment so that we can pray with you.  Of course, it goes without saying that if you have a praise, a report of answered prayer, that we hope you will share that, as well, to encourage others.