At some point in our lives we’ve probably had someone ask us to pray for them, or we have asked someone to pray for us.  Did we actually pray for them?  Did they actually pray for us?

Jesus says “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’” (Matt 5:37).  Let’s apply this to prayer.  In my life, I’m sure that I’ve had more than 1,000 prayer requests (estimate) that people asked me to pray for something/them.  Some of these things were big; some of them were small.  Either way it doesn’t matter.  How many of those did I consistently, daily pray for?  Being honest, I’d say about 10% of those did I actually do what I said I would do.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who struggles with this.  The primary root of this comes from a low priority of prayer, but it also deals with being true to our word.  Our small group has started to seriously pray for each other.  Three words come to mind that can make our YES’S line up. 

1. Intentionality
2. Focus
3. Compassion

We must be proactive in our prayer life (meaning start now, today)!  We must focus in on the needs of others and not get distracted by life’s muses.  We must have compassion for God’s people and the lost; if we saw people like God sees them then we would take praying for people more seriously.

Practical Steps:  Although we can’t take back all of the neglected prayer requests, we can seize the moment.

1. Take a few minutes within the next 30 minutes to pray ONLY for others.
2. Write the prayer requests down, put them in your phone, whatever it takes.
3. Pray all throughout the day with those requests.

Have a blessed day!

pv

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