So many of my friends and family members are hurting lately. They’ve experienced the death of a loved one, miscarriage, illness, job loss, divorce. So much pain that I can’t fix. Sometimes I wish I just had a magic wand and could make all of their problems disappear but, as far as I know, that wand doesn’t exist.
When I hear that a friend is going through a hard time I usually don’t have many words to say other than “I’m sorry”, “let me know if I can help” and “I will pray for you”. All of these words come with good intention and from my heart. I am sorry, I do want to help, and I will pray for them…. or do I?
I’m going to be honest here. Many times I found myself saying I would pray for someone and then making a mental note to do so and mommy brain attacked and I forgot. It’s not that I didn’t want to pray for their need. It’s not that I didn’t intend to. The fact of the matter is that a lot of the time I would plan to do it “later” and would forget exactly who and what I had to pray for. I would forget about the lady from my MOPS group that asked me to pray for her friend with cancer. I would forget about my friend’s cousin who was going through a nasty divorce. I would forget about a friend’s brother-in-law who was hunting for a job. All needing my prayer, all forgotten.
I decided that what “works for me” would be to STOP what I was doing and pray right then. Many times I am sitting at my computer and a prayer request pops up on Twitter or Facebook and I have found that it’s best if I pray when the request is fresh in my mind. I can then say “I did pray for you” and not just “I will”.
Along with this I started keeping a prayer journal to write down prayer requests. I bought a cute composition notebook at Target and keep it on my desk at home by my computer. It’s also great when you can see God’s answer to prayer (note: I said his answer which may not always be what we want it to be or think it should be.)
So what works for you when it comes to the topic of prayer?
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Love it – I’m trying to be more “at-the-moment” about praying too. We’re asked in His Word to pray continually and I love the idea for a prayer journal as a way to do just that. I feature a video on my site with my song “I Pray” – you might enjoy. Blessings!
I started a prayer journal back in the summer. And then abandoned it. {blush} I really DO try to be intentional in my prayers for other people- usually I do it right on the spot when the request is made (usually in my head) so I know I won’t be making any empty promises.