Praying for Others
“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”
Sometimes it takes a crisis to move us from focusing our prayers just on ourselves to focusing them on others in our lives.
Learning to talk with God about the people we love most is a way for us to care and help in situations that seem hopeless. Many times we make comments like, “Well, I guess all I can do is pray…” as if prayer is a last resort rather than a first response. Praying for friends and family is the greatest thing you can do to help, serve, and love them.
So look outside of ourselves and at the lives of those around us. Who is struggling with a physical ailment? Who needs hope in the middle of a trial? Who has been blessed in a way that we can praise God for His kindness? Start with thinking about your family tree. Go through your spouse, children, parents, siblings, and extended family and talk to God about each of their needs, challenges, and joyful moments. Then move on to your friends, the ones who know you best, the ones you work beside, and the ones farthest away from the Lord.
Say a prayer for everyone you can think of, from that co-worker who drives you absolutely crazy to that aunt who has prayed for you throughout the years. Talk to God about the problems you wish you could solve in the lives of those around you that you know you can’t. Ask Him to step in where you’ve been trying to fix things for others and trust Him to work in their lives as much as He is in yours. And most assuredly, God hears our prayers for those we love. His love for them is even greater than ours.
