Praying for Others

Prayer is necessary. Prayer is one way that we can speak directly to God. Prayer is even commanded. We are to pray without ceasing. We are to pray for our leaders. Being reminded that when Paul wrote this injunction that the leader was his future killer, Nero. 

Why oh why do we struggle to pray? Let me give you three reasons real quick. 

1. We don't realize what prayer is. 

2. We don't see the urgency. 

3. We have "better" things to do. 

What prayer is - We forget or ignore the fact that prayer is our ability to talk with the Creator God. Did you know that God knows all the angles of life? He knows how your day, today, went. He knew it from before time. He's not worried about it. He knows your weakness and supposed strengths. He will help even more than he currently is helping you. He is God. Talk to him. Tell him how you feel and what you're thinking. Even though he already knows, he'll listen and help. 

The Urgency - Forgive me but I didn't watch the president last night. I didn't want to be frustrated and embarrassed to say that I am an American. However, what happened at the staged press conference was a red flag, as if we needed one, to the condition of our country. It has been going to hell in a hand cart for a while. However, now we are in a critical stage of our country's history and prayers are needed. "Yeah, but, I am just one person! What can one person do?" One person can do much. Remember Job, Daniel, David, and Paul. How one person changes the world depends on the person and whether or not God is involved in that person's life. So pray with urgency. 

Better things to do - Right. So forget prayer. Water your garden, wash your car, cut the grass. When we let temporal things crowd out prayer then we reveal who we really are. We are temporal. We'll be gone in a few months. If we last that long. There are important things that need to be done. There are urgent things and fun things. However, they should never take the place of our talks with God. If we don't have time during the day, then we need to do what king David did, he got up during the night and prayed. Praying will not necessarily keep us from troubled times but praying will give us confidence in our Father's plan and protective power. 

Ponder this and do it. 

PS this was for me.