Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. - James 5:16
Do you have someone you always go to for prayer? You know who I'm talking about. The person you can spill out your prayer requests to and just KNOW that he or she is actually going to pray for you?
I like to call these people "Prayer Warriors," and the truth is that these people are very few and far between. They're the ones who are upfront and honest about prayer. If they're really going to pray for you, they'll let you know. If they don't feel led to pray for you, they'll respond by saying, "You'll be in my thoughts," or "I'll be thinking of you." And whatever they tell you, you can rest assured that it's the truth.
How do I know this about Prayer Warriors? Because I consider myself to be one.
Praying for others is a job I don't take lightly, but I have to admit that it can be a bit overwhelming. At this point in time, I'm a prayer warrior at my church. We're a working church, so we do a lot of community outreach and we ask for prayer requests wherever we go. The slips of paper that people write their petitions on always end up in my hands, and I commit to praying for them as much as possible.
Today, though, I found myself carrying home another bundle of prayer requests, this time from my fellow church members. I honestly wanted to cry, but I committed myself to having a private conversation with God as my husband drove home.
Me: God, I'm not sure how to handle all this. I know I'm supposed to pray for these people, but I feel so overwhelmed and unqualified. How do I do these prayers justice here on earth when I know that You already know these people's hearts?
God: You write them down and then write down what comes to mind after you've prayed for each one.
Hmm. That seems simple enough, and it takes care of the major issue I was having with all these prayer requests: actually feeling like I was doing each request justice by praying for it individually rather than lumping it together with others.
After taking care of my usual Sunday afternoon prayers, I sat down on my bed with a notebook, tape, pen, and the pile of requests. Each request got taped down to its own sheet of paper and I began praying for each one during the process. Once I had them all placed in the notebook, I started praying over each one and waiting to hear from God.
Wow. I felt like I got something that I was desperately needing: clarity. I don't know the majority of the people I'm praying for, so I start feeling like I can't adequately pray for them. The answers came so randomly, but I started scrawling words down on paper, never questioning what it was all supposed to mean...because God knows.
If you're a Prayer Warrior like me, I sincerely pray that God gives you the stamina, strength, and endurance to continue on with this journey. If you're not a Prayer Warrior, but you still have a heart to pray for others, take time out today to ask that person you always take your requests to (your Prayer Warrior) how you can pray for him or her. Chances are you'll get one word requests like "peace" or "strength," but chances are that those things are exactly what that Prayer Warrior needs. And if he or she does give you something to pray for, don't take it lightly! We don't share our requests with others very often.
Until the next whisper,
Emily
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