Before I came back to the house, I had to make a stop at the post office to pay the box rent and while in there, a second time this morning I was asked to pray by a lady I have ran into several times while mailing things either sold on Ebay or because of the printing ministry that my wife and I operate. She shared that her nephew was having some problems and that he needed prayer; I offered to pray with her then, but she said she had an appointment to go to. After I had purchased my stamps, I got back into my car and offered a quick prayer for that family asking God to allow his will to be done and allow the situation to bring him into the focus of the family needing the prayers. Again, I was able to be a bridge between someone’s real needs and the Heavenly Father that I serve.
As Christians, it is important that we understand the importance that praying for others has within our daily walk. Prayer for others brings a sense of selfless purpose in our lives and allows us to demonstrate the love of Christ on a personal level. James wrote that as Christians we are to Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much (James 5:16). He does not mean we are to parade around in our spiritual failures, shortcomings, and sins, but that as we pray for others, to let them know that we too, need prayer and why we need it. Just as we should be eager to pray for the needs of others, we should have the same eagerness to have others pray for us when we sincerely need intercession. Even if all we can say is that we, too, have a need for prayer – and leave it in the most general terms, it does have an impact on us. When someone asks us to pray for them, they are exposing their vulnerabilities. It takes faith to ask someone to pray for you. In an age where strength is measured in one’s own ability to stand strong, asking for prayer is not only the direct opposite of strength but it also brings about humility.
We should not be afraid to pray to God and ask him for guidance on the day to day things in our lives. The apostle Paul wrote Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). When that verse is added to what Jesus taught If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? (Luke 11:11-13). The truth is that God does care for us and wants us to come to him as children. He wants to hear about our day, about our feelings, our desires, our needs, and our wants. He wants to hear us tell him about the needs of others, and any other thing our hearts desire to share with him. He wants our prayers to come from the heart and be directed towards him, and not to those around us who may hear our prayer. In fact, the Lord taught this very thing as he was teaching his disciples how to properly pray: But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him (Matthew 6:6-8).
It is a blessing knowing that God knows our needs before we even ask of him. It is a blessing to know that when we are in his will, we can be used of him to minister to others through prayer. We never know when we will be asked by others to pray for them so we must assure that our own prayer life is in order and that we do not have any unconfessed sin on our own lives as we do our daily routines.
