“ … I’m praying for you.”
I received this text from a friend a few days ago, as the virus crisis was gathering, and I cried as I responded. I am loved on both ends of that prayer. Who today doesn’t need that double dose of encouragement?
I am healthy. I am warm and rested and well-fed. My home is well-stocked. I an wonderfully connected to some beautiful people.
Other people need prayer.
Other people are suffering. Other people are hungry and cold and alone.
Prayer is for them. Not me.
I carried that notion forward for a long time, more than 50 years. I am blessed. I will pray for you. You don’t have to pray for me.
You’re praying for me? It made me anxious. What do you see that I don’t see? What do you know that I don’t know?
I am not sure when or how my stance on prayer changed, but I am gratefully accepting all prayer today. Thank you.
But this isn’t meant to encourage prayer for me. It is meant to prompt you to tell people you are praying for them.
Consider Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians: “We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayer, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope … “
Consider Paul’s second letter to Timothy: “I am grateful to God … when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.”
Consider Paul’s letter to the Ephesians: “I do not ceases to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation … ”
I could continue with Paul, but clearly he saw that as we pray for each other, we need to tell each other we are praying. There is power and peace in hearing, “I prayed for you today.”
In the wonderful prayer passage in James 5, the sick are encouraged to call on the elders of the church to pray “over them.” Praying “over them” doesn’t change what God hears, or the prayers the elders lift. But it allows the ailing to hear the prayer. It opens their hearts a little wider for the Spirit to enter. There is power in knowing someone has prayed for you.
I am certain we are all praying more vigorously in these uncertain circumstances. Let’s all be more vigorous in telling family, friends, neighbors, teammates, co-workers, the people who serve us, that we are praying for them, and they are loved at both ends of every prayer.
And know that I am praying for you today, friends.