Praying for Others

"I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you..." Ephesians 1:18

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." James 5:16

Today I am going to let you in on a little secret of mine.  For many years when someone would ask me to pray for them...well...I didn't!  I feel horrible, but yes, that is the honest truth.  It was never that I purposely did not pray for them but I would forget or become distracted and simply not say a prayer for them.  I can be very forgetful.  As a matter of fact, if it is not written down for me to clearly see I will not give it another thought. 

Then one day several years ago, I realized what if others did that with my requests for prayer?  I asked for prayer from family and friends on many occasions.  What if they forgot about me the way I forgot about them.  That hit me hard.  I knew it was time to do something different.  Now every time someone asks for prayer, whether I receive a call or text, someone asks for prayer at church or Bible study, or I see a request on facebook, however I receive a prayer request, I take a moment right then and there to pray.  Even if I only have a second, I say a prayer.  Then I write the prayer request down to continue praying for that need.  Doing it this way has helped me to pray for others.  And when I pray for others, I am truly blessed!  I love praying for others and I love seeing God work in the lives of His people.

If you are like me, extremely forgetful, or too busy or whatever your reason is, I want to encourage you to find a way to pray for others.  Take a moment and pray right when you hear of a need.  Keep a small notebook or post-it pad with you and write the request down to pray later.  Whatever works best for you, just make sure you are praying for others.  As you lift others in prayer, I promise you will be blessed!