If you grew up in the South and if you grew up in the church you often heard the phrase, “I’ll be praying for you.” At its best, it represents our spiritual sensitivity to deep issues and concerns in a person’s life. At its worst, it represents something we say when don’t know what else to say. It slips into our conversation as a way to bridge the awkwardness of a vulnerability disclosed, a more spiritual version of “Well, bless your heart.”
How often do we actually pray for the people we’ve promised to pray for? When someone tells us they are praying for us, I wonder how many of us conjure up a fantasy of someone repeating our name and request before God with sweat and intensity. I wonder how often that actually happens.
Too many of us, myself included, will offer a brief prayer (if we remember) asking God to be with ol’ so and so and then move right along to our next thought. There is nothing wrong with this kind of prayer, but there’s not much right with it. If a person is a believer, God is already with them. If they are not a believer, then we need to pray not that God will be with them, but that they will be with God.
To pray boldly for a need is to be specific – to pray for healing, for understanding, for reconciliation, for a change in values and direction. To pray boldly is to pray in faith – that if God wants to do this, He can and He will. To pray boldly is to pray submissively – to say to God that from our limited perspective, this seems to be the right course; however, we could be wrong and we will accept God’s answer.
Prayer is the greatest gift you can give a person, if it comes from your heart. So let me gently probe your spirit – who do you love enough that you would earnestly pray for them?
James 5:16b says, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” Pray in the right spirit – and watch God do powerful things.
