We Should Pray for Each Other

By Johnny Angel

Jude 1:[20] But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. [21] Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life (NIV).

1 Thessalonians 5:[17] pray continually (NIV)

Epheisans 6:[18] And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints (NIV).

James 5:[13] Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. [14] Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. [15] And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. [16] Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective (NIV).

Prayer is the key to seeing things happen. And all there is to it is that you talk to God. If you're on a boat in the middle of the lake and it starts to sink, you're not going to pray a big long eloquent prayer for help. Instead, you're going to scream "help!" Prayers must come from the heart. They should be something that we do often. We should pray for each other no matter how small the concern may seem.

My mom shared how one of my cousins prayed recently over the meal. He thanked God for the food and asked God to help this person and that person. He asked God to help me have a safe trip back home. His dad leaned over and said that I had already made it back to school safely. The boy kept on praying. He mentioned every person he could think of and was trying so hard not to leave someone out. Then he asked God to help Mike find him some bugs and snakes. They had just been outside talking, and Mike has listened to the boy's interest in bugs and snakes and promised to find some for him. Mom said it was all she could do to keep from laughing. Yet my cousin was praying with absolute sincerity. He was simply telling God that he likes bugs and snakes and was asking God to help Mike find some.

I don't think it's going to be a problem for God to listen to our talk about bugs and snakes. He saves us so we can be intimate friends. He wants to share things with us, but we have to seek Him. When we come to Him in pure child-like faith as my cousin did, we are in the right attitude.

God may not always give us our snakes and bugs. After all, He may be aware that they could hurt us. But God will provide what is best for us. Often He will give us the opposite of what we ask for, and we will discover that what He gives us is better.

Just as God is not too busy to hear our prayers for bugs and snakes, we should not "bee" too busy to pray for each other. I encourage all of you to share your prayer requests as you need to. Our job as Christians is to be about our Father's business, and prayer is very much our Father's business!

N Prayer, Johnny <*}}}><