A Matter of Prayer
I had a great conversation today with my bestest little brother, Justin (who isn't actually very little he's actually 25 and bigger than me). We talked about the business of prayer and when to talk about praying for other people. Any body who has ever known someone they have needed to pray for (I'm being facetious since we are all at one point in need of prayer :) knows that sometimes there are prayer you tell people and they are encouraged by it and others when you need to keep it between you and God. The question comes when you are faced with the times you aren't sure whether you should let someone know you are praying for them or not. We didn't actually have an all encompassing answer to that quandary but Justin had a good point that when you are praying for someones salvation, telling them could do more harm than good. Later my sister commented about it after reading the blog and remembered when someone she was praying for was really encouraged by it.
Well after that conversation I had a conversation about it with my hubby (okay, not so much a conversation as much as me talking at him which meant he listened to me think out loud). I am going to do some more Bible searching and of course prayer about it, but for now this is just my thoughts on the matter.
I have at points been a hypocrite when it comes to the matter of prayer. I have sometimes said that I would prayer for someone and then forgot about it. I have offered up surface prayers for things that needed deeper prayer and I have been known to yawn my way through a group prayer meeting. That's my confession. I'm not proud of it and I wish I could seek the forgiveness of anyone that I did that too. In the words of my hubby, "That's jacked up." God has recently brought all this to my attention. I was aware of it at different times before, but only in passing. Now it's something that God has told me to get serious about. You see, when you pray intercessory prayer, you are literally in a spiritual sense standing between that person and the demonic powers that are trying to lead them away from the work God is doing in their lives. It's a spiritual battle move.
I guess that was a rabbit trail from the point which was about whether or not to tell someone that you are praying for them. Prayer is the foundation of our faith. It is our connection to our Omnipotent Omniscient God (all powerful, all seeing). Prayer is a time of learning God's voice from the other voices we hear everyday like our feelings or flesh, peer pressure, social pressures, Satanic influence, etc. When you are attuned with God then you can, in your spirit, know when he is telling you to tell a person you are praying for him or her. They may not even take it very well at first. It's not about avoiding conflict (that's a blog for another time) Prayer is a practice in dependence on God, sometimes meant to bring us into obedience with Him as much as it is about who we are praying for. I admit when I am praying for Dan, specifically when we have argued, God uses it to show me where I was wrong, not where Dan was wrong (I told Dan once in an argument that I would pray for him. He didn't take that very well. I had to apologize when I cooled down.)
Anyway, that's just a thought on that subject. I will continue to do a more Bible based study on it tomorrow and let you know what I come up with since it's to late tonight (probably to late to even be writing such as serious thing, I might read it tomorrow and have to edit this. ;) Until then hears to growing and changing. )-l (that's a wine glass in case you were wondering.
Well after that conversation I had a conversation about it with my hubby (okay, not so much a conversation as much as me talking at him which meant he listened to me think out loud). I am going to do some more Bible searching and of course prayer about it, but for now this is just my thoughts on the matter.
I have at points been a hypocrite when it comes to the matter of prayer. I have sometimes said that I would prayer for someone and then forgot about it. I have offered up surface prayers for things that needed deeper prayer and I have been known to yawn my way through a group prayer meeting. That's my confession. I'm not proud of it and I wish I could seek the forgiveness of anyone that I did that too. In the words of my hubby, "That's jacked up." God has recently brought all this to my attention. I was aware of it at different times before, but only in passing. Now it's something that God has told me to get serious about. You see, when you pray intercessory prayer, you are literally in a spiritual sense standing between that person and the demonic powers that are trying to lead them away from the work God is doing in their lives. It's a spiritual battle move.
I guess that was a rabbit trail from the point which was about whether or not to tell someone that you are praying for them. Prayer is the foundation of our faith. It is our connection to our Omnipotent Omniscient God (all powerful, all seeing). Prayer is a time of learning God's voice from the other voices we hear everyday like our feelings or flesh, peer pressure, social pressures, Satanic influence, etc. When you are attuned with God then you can, in your spirit, know when he is telling you to tell a person you are praying for him or her. They may not even take it very well at first. It's not about avoiding conflict (that's a blog for another time) Prayer is a practice in dependence on God, sometimes meant to bring us into obedience with Him as much as it is about who we are praying for. I admit when I am praying for Dan, specifically when we have argued, God uses it to show me where I was wrong, not where Dan was wrong (I told Dan once in an argument that I would pray for him. He didn't take that very well. I had to apologize when I cooled down.)
Anyway, that's just a thought on that subject. I will continue to do a more Bible based study on it tomorrow and let you know what I come up with since it's to late tonight (probably to late to even be writing such as serious thing, I might read it tomorrow and have to edit this. ;) Until then hears to growing and changing. )-l (that's a wine glass in case you were wondering.
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