“We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers…”1 Thess. 1:2
A buzzword is defined as a word or phrase, often sounding technical, that is a vogue term in a particular profession, field of study, popular culture. Has prayer become a buzzword to you? Is it something that sounds “spiritual”, but you find it difficult to practice? This came to mind last week when looking at the prayer reminders that we receive at our church’s midweek service. I was reminded that there are a lot of needs both within our congregation and outside of our congregation. We often will say to people, “I am praying for you” or “I will pray for you.” Do we really pray for them? Sad to say, sometimes I forget and I know that you do as well. We are humans and we do make mistakes.
I have found the best thing to do is once I tell someone I will pray for them, is to pray right on the spot either with them or praying for them immediately after parting company. Another good thing to do is to keep some paper or an index card handy (I use a moleskine notebook) and write down the request so it is not forgotten.
I have often wondered if some of the trite things that we say to people with regard to praying for them have become as common as some secular expressions that we may hear others use, such as “Good luck”. It is a simple phrase that one may use when they do not know what to say, but feel that they must say something. Let us not be trite in what we say to others especially in the matter of prayer. The book of Galatians reminds us “Bear one another’s burden and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Gal. 6:2, NKJV)
Terry Lange blogs at From The Unknown
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Some great points about writing down the requests in a place you would remember and to pray for the person right then. Why is it so hard for us to actually stop and pray for someone right then?