praying for others

“Can I pray for you?”

His face lit up like a Christmas tree at the offer.

“Yeah, oh yeah,” he said with a grin. “I always appreciate prayer.”

After we prayed he was still smiling from ear-to-ear. We shook hands, said goodbye and he added this as he walked out the door:

“You have no idea how much this has helped.”

While he was grateful for the financial help to buy some gasoline, I truly believe he was referring more to the prayer.

So why don’t we do that more? Pray for people, that is. As in right then and there vs. in our prayer closet later that day.

First of all, we may be scared. At least that’s a factor for me. The fact is, not many people pray for others in person or while on the phone. It’s just, kind of, well, scary. Agreed?

Second, we may be wary of making a fool of ourselves. After all, the person who needs prayer probably isn’t expecting to be prayed for at that very moment, and besides, it’s not like you’re a pastor. Who wants to make a fool of themselves?

Third, we may not be used to praying aloud and don’t think of ourselves as very eloquent. I mean, there may be long stretches of silence as we think of what to say, and once we think of what to say there’s the chance we may stumble over the words. Can you say embarrassing?

Those are all valid reasons why we may shy away from it, and there are no doubt others as well.

And yet…

·         We miss out on the chance to minister to somebody right then and there.

·         We miss out on seeing the gratitude in their faces.

·         We miss out on an opportunity to grow in our faith.

Besides, if we’re honest, how many times have we promised to pray for someone and then forgotten to do it? If you’re like me, too many times to count.

So what do you say? The next time somebody asks for prayer, instead of promising to do it later let’s pray right then and there. Whether we’re talking face-to-face or on the phone, let’s do it right then and there.

I know it can be scary. I know there’s a chance we’ll make a fool of ourselves. And I know we’re not totally comfortable praying out loud and don’t think of ourselves as eloquent.

But trust me, the risk is so worth it.

If you had only seen the look on that man’s face this morning…

He wanted prayer, needed prayer and was walking on cloud nine afterwards. It made my day. And it will make your day as well.

Go for it.

“Pray continually.”1

1  1 Thessalonians 5:17