But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so
1 Peter 2:9 NASBthat you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
Their Duty
One duty of an Old Testament priest was to mediate between God and men. Part of their duty was to pray for others. You may have heard it called, intercession. When we intercede for someone, we stand in for them or make an appeal before them. The word can mean mediate, but often it means to plead on behalf of someone else.
Conviction and Guilt
Many prayers I found online sounded almost selfish. I felt conviction and guilt. How often do I pray for myself and my family? Jesus says I’m free (John 8:32). He paid for my sins (John 1:29) and whenever I ask for something according to His will, it will happen (John 15:7). I wonder what God’s will for my friends involves?
God Heals
When we share prayer requests, we often ask for others to pray for us and people we know who have health issues. God heals, and He instructs us to pray for healing for one another (James 5:14). Recently, I started monitoring the things I ask God for.
Do we pray for others the way Jesus does (Matthew 6:5-13)? Do we even know enough about our coworkers or customers to pray for them? Or is our prayer more to get them or God to do what we want?
Their Requests
When I first became a Christian, I prayed for a job working for a Christian person. I asked God to give me a different job, to provide for us, and to heal my wife’s chronic illness. Mostly I asked about stuff that impacted me. When I was in a small group or with other Christians, I’d pray for them, too. But when we left, I did not recall most of their requests. I focused on myself.
Ask Him
If you get the
What Would Happen?
What would happen at your workplace if you and every other Christian you worked with began praying for everyone else? Why not try it out and let us all know?
Join Us
Who do you pray for? Have questions on what to pray or how to start? Want to just talk about it with other like-minded Christians? Join us over in our Community.
Image by: Tim Gouw for Unsplash
2 Responses
This is a topic that is dear to my heart. When I have prayed for myself, I’ve often asked God to use me selfishly for His glory. It’s amazing how God will give us those opportunities to witness for Him. I have to say in all honesty, it’s been at the “busiest” times in my life too. When I am obedient and follow His will, I am blessed beyond words to have done so. Lately, this past month, my husband and I were running errands one evening and there was a man we met, who thought God was mad at him. It was a divine appointment and had we been focused only on ourselves and the timing, we would have passed an opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus. We were able to share God’s love with this man and we witnessed an immediate change after we prayed. To God be the glory!
I also keep Promise Books on hand at work and when people come to me and have asked about prayer or have mentioned a situation that’s going on in their life, I will share a promise book with them. We have so many opportunities to share His Word and one of the biggest is simply by example.
God bless you all and thank you Mike for Follower of One. What a blessing!
Thank you for the great comments and the kind words. I’m grateful for how God uses us when we make ourselves available to him, and even sometimes when we don’t! Your words are a blessing to me, too. Thanks.
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