When You Tell Someone You'll Pray For Them, Do You Really Mean It?
Posted: Tuesday, March 03, 2009
by Mark Depht
http://www.faithtelegraph.com
Let's face it -- we're all very busy; we hardly have time enough in our day for our own problems and challenges. Yet we care about others and want to encourage them, we know we are supposed to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ, and we do believe our prayers can make a real difference.
From this tension between our limited time, one the one hand, and our desire to help those in need, on the others, is sometimes born "check the box" prayers. Do any of the below apply to you?
The "Catch Up" Prayer: Immediately before you talk to someone you previously promised to pray for, you offer up a quick, "Lord I pray for [name]." Again, you don't have much time for specifics, but at least you are being truthful -- and encouraging -- when you tell the person, "I've been praying for you."
The "Just The Facts" Prayer: Somewhat more developed than the two other prayers above, this prayer will usually occur when you have more time, perhaps when you are going through a list of prayers during your regular prayer time. This prayer typically restates the prayer request, as coming from you, "Lord I pray for [name]. I pray that you will [restate here the person's prayer request]."
Is there anything inherently wrong with any of the above prayers? Not necessarily. There is no reason God can't answer these simple prayers. And, it can be encouraging to tell someone you will and/or have been praying for them.
But perhaps some prayer requests, even prayer requests that do not necessarily stir your heart or make you feel emotional, call for a little more. Perhaps God wants you to pray with more specificity or more passion, and then listen and ponder how you might be part of God's answer.
Compare the prayers above with some prayers of the Bible:
Paul's Prayer For The Ephesians: For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-21.
Jesus' Prayer For His Followers: My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. John 17:15-19
And in a poignant example of a prayer request not taken seriously, consider Jesus' prayer requests to the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane:
Jesus' Prayer Requests In The Garden of Gethsemane: Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. Matthew 26:36-40.
Can you imagine not taking a prayer request from Jesus seriously? Can you imagine praying a check-the-box prayer -- "God, I pray for Jesus" -- as Jesus was about to pass through his darkest hour?
Consider whether the next prayer request you receive should receive a little more attention, time and, well -- prayer.
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The International Faith Telegraph: World Christian News & Missions News
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)I have often felt convincted by this! Thanks for the article.
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