I’ll Pray for You
So many times when someone crosses my path, either in person or mentally, I sense a nudge to pray for them. A natural response to a need says, “I’ll pray for you.” But what do I say to God? What words? What requests? What tone of voice?
The easy answer is to “grocery list” your prayers. “OK, Jesus, here’s what I need today, and please don’t be late like last time,” where God is cast as errand-boy or fast food drive-up kiosk where we place an order then hope for delivery. Somehow, this doesn’t square either with scripture or our sense of how prayer should work. So, how are we to pray?
While we are encouraged to lay out our concerns, in detail, before God with complete freedom and filled with hope, so much more can be done. In the midst of voicing our hopes and desires to the Father, a fine on-ramp to more robust prayer is to hitchhike onto some of the prayers found in the Bible. While asking the Father to meet the needs of the moment, I can also speak to the heart of my friend.
Here’s a couple I often use, mostly verbatim, for others. When Paul found himself under house arrest in Rome, he wrote letters to at least three of the churches he had a hand in founding. In each letter to the churches in Ephesus, Philippi, and Colossae before addressing the point of his message, he prayed for them.
To the Ephesians he wrote,
I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him.
Now, that’s good stuff. As I acknowledge the need before me for a friend and ask for relief, to then ask the God of the universe to unveil to them a larger picture of how it all goes together and what what resources they have in Jesus lifts a person up beyond even the hardest hurts and transforms my words into a powerful, heart-level request. How might I view my situations differently if I held a firm grasp on these truths?
I know I could use more spiritual wisdom and insight during my days, and boy howdy, would I love to have my heart flooded with God's light to really see all that is before me in Jesus. This prayer has a lot to say to any believer on any day facing any challenge.
Here’s Paul’s prayer for the folks in Philippi,
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may see and approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Follow the progression of thought through his prayer. This walks far beyond simply asking for immediate help or blessing or healing (which are all good and necessary), and into heart and character growth that leads to living worthy lives, fruitful lives, really fun and full lives.
First he asks that their love grows more and more from where they stand. What a fine thing for us to pray for any friend or family member who might be facing life that pulls them toward fear or anger or indifference to need.
But love is qualified as being driven by real knowledge and discernment. In other words, this is less warm fuzzies and more a clear-eyed evaluation of the situations they face with discernment into the why behind the what of a situation.
"So that" is an outcome of knowledgeable and discerning love that can approve the things that are excellent. "Approve" is a marketplace word that determines worth, like a USDA Prime sticker on the steak. Our discerning love helps keep us out of the weeds of mediocrity.
All with the goal of living authentic and free-of-accusation kind of lives. "Sincere" means sound, and "blameless" talks of integrity. Not perfection, but open and growing in one's faith life.
So, pray for one another, as often as folks cross your mind, but take slices from these prayers to raise your words to a new level of impact from God to his children. There are lots of examples like these two you can borrow from in your prayer times for others, and for yourself. This need not detract from your personal visits with God in the least, but may bolster what you have to say and how you say it. I find it helpful to lead off with praying scripture and interspersing requests along the way. This keeps my focus on Jesus and issues of the heart, not only the needs of the moment.
So, friend, please allow me pray for you.
Dear Jesus, whatever my friend is facing today, I ask they might grow in spiritual wisdom and insight into their situation. May the eyes of their heart see again all you have given them so they can understand some of the benefits of being in the family of God. Remind them often of who they are as children of God and the hope that brings. I ask that today, they would make wise decisions and live a sincere and blameless life, glorifying You in the process. Amen.
Music, anyone?
Funnies 4 you...
In a remote village in Central America the word got out among the peoples of the region that one of the American missionaries that had served this country for many years was about to return to the US to live out the remaining years of her life.
The nationals desired to honor her for her years of service with a public time of appreciation. News of the event went to all parts of the country in which the missionary was known to the people. One very old and very poor man walked to the ceremony over mountainous terrain for 4 days to bring his gift to the missionary.
The gift consisted of 2 coconuts, but it was all the man had. The missionary recognized the man as coming from the remote village in the mountains.
"Brother, I cannot believe that you would walk so far to present me with this gift," said the missionary to the man.
His response?
"Long walk part of gift."
__________
On a tour of New York City, a woman and her children visited St Patrick's Cathedral.
They were awestruck by the soaring beauty of the place. The kids were especially curious about the votive candles.
The Mom explained that people generally say a prayer when they light a candle—usually a prayer of petition or thanks.
She asked if they'd each like to light one—which they did.
As they left, the five-year-old said: "If there's a pony outside, it's mine."