I just really need to let him know that I'm praying for him.
Have you ever had the thought? Have you ever felt a sudden urge to intercede for someone, perhaps out of the blue, and then followed up by telling that person what you were doing?
While sometimes, sure, there's a benefit to telling someone else that we're praying for them... I've been wondering lately if that's something we do for ourselves more than the other person. Because, if we're being honest, the power of prayer isn't stemming from our letting the person know that we're praying for them... the power of prayer is the actual praying itself.
How many times have I told someone that for whatever reason that I felt like I needed to be praying for them, and then stopped praying for them? Probably too many, unfortunately. And how many times have I felt like I needed to be praying for someone, been diligent about doing so without ever letting them know, and then trusted that the Lord was going to move in His way and His time...even if I never saw the fruit of it?
Sometimes we convince ourselves that telling people we're praying for them is done because we want to encourage them. And sometimes that's true. But, I think there's often a hidden motive to it. A lot of the time it boosts are own esteem, or we use it as a way to show that we care about another person. Sometimes we use it as a way to get back in touch with someone. Sometimes we just think we're 'supposed' to let people know if we're praying for them.
I'm not saying letting them know is bad or wrong by any means...
I'd just encourage you to check your motives for it.
And I'd challenge you on if you're actually following up with the praying part or if you feel like you're good deed was accomplished simply by telling someone that you're praying for them.
Because, I'd be lying if I said I had never used the 'ol praying excuse as a means to talk to someone I had no other reason to talk to before...even if I really had felt like I needed to be praying for them. Sometimes I think some of the best things we can do (especially for the people that we've maybe fallen out of touch with...sometimes for good reasons) is simply do the praying part without ever letting them know.
If we truly believe that God is as powerful as we say He is, and if we believe that prayer is as important as we claim it to be... what might it look like if we prayed as much as we talked about praying?
And if we're going to tell someone that we're praying for them? Why don't we just pray for them instead? You know... like audibly pray with them, for them, in their presence? Why don't we, if distance separates us, send them written prayers that we're actually praying for them? Wouldn't that be more powerful than anything else?
I guess I just want to move from being a talker to more of a doer.
I want to pray.
Not just talk about what you need prayer for.
I want to pray for the people that are placed on my heart, not just tell them that I felt like I needed to be praying for them.
I want to be diligent in it.
Because prayer matters.
In ways that I can't even begin to comprehend...but I know that it does.
Will you join me in being a doer?
A pray-er?
A person who follows through on what we claim to believe?
Have you ever had the thought? Have you ever felt a sudden urge to intercede for someone, perhaps out of the blue, and then followed up by telling that person what you were doing?
While sometimes, sure, there's a benefit to telling someone else that we're praying for them... I've been wondering lately if that's something we do for ourselves more than the other person. Because, if we're being honest, the power of prayer isn't stemming from our letting the person know that we're praying for them... the power of prayer is the actual praying itself.
How many times have I told someone that for whatever reason that I felt like I needed to be praying for them, and then stopped praying for them? Probably too many, unfortunately. And how many times have I felt like I needed to be praying for someone, been diligent about doing so without ever letting them know, and then trusted that the Lord was going to move in His way and His time...even if I never saw the fruit of it?
Sometimes we convince ourselves that telling people we're praying for them is done because we want to encourage them. And sometimes that's true. But, I think there's often a hidden motive to it. A lot of the time it boosts are own esteem, or we use it as a way to show that we care about another person. Sometimes we use it as a way to get back in touch with someone. Sometimes we just think we're 'supposed' to let people know if we're praying for them.
I'm not saying letting them know is bad or wrong by any means...
I'd just encourage you to check your motives for it.
And I'd challenge you on if you're actually following up with the praying part or if you feel like you're good deed was accomplished simply by telling someone that you're praying for them.
Because, I'd be lying if I said I had never used the 'ol praying excuse as a means to talk to someone I had no other reason to talk to before...even if I really had felt like I needed to be praying for them. Sometimes I think some of the best things we can do (especially for the people that we've maybe fallen out of touch with...sometimes for good reasons) is simply do the praying part without ever letting them know.
If we truly believe that God is as powerful as we say He is, and if we believe that prayer is as important as we claim it to be... what might it look like if we prayed as much as we talked about praying?
And if we're going to tell someone that we're praying for them? Why don't we just pray for them instead? You know... like audibly pray with them, for them, in their presence? Why don't we, if distance separates us, send them written prayers that we're actually praying for them? Wouldn't that be more powerful than anything else?
I guess I just want to move from being a talker to more of a doer.
I want to pray.
Not just talk about what you need prayer for.
I want to pray for the people that are placed on my heart, not just tell them that I felt like I needed to be praying for them.
I want to be diligent in it.
Because prayer matters.
In ways that I can't even begin to comprehend...but I know that it does.
Will you join me in being a doer?
A pray-er?
A person who follows through on what we claim to believe?
Your entries will remain anonymous
No comments:
Post a Comment