Prayer's Thread in Life's Tapestry
The Joy of Praying Scripture for Others
Prayer's Thread in Life's Tapestry
The Joy of Praying Scripture for Others
Does the thought of actively praying for someone send shivers of excitement down your spine? Or are they shivers of fear? It's hard enough keeping up the pace of daily activities and responsibilities without adding in prayer and study time. For many of us who have experienced trauma in our past with lingering side effects, prayer is often coupled with hesitation, feelings of insecurity and inferiority, wondering if God really cares and if He is really listening. Add that to our busy lives and prayer often gets put on a back burner to be dealt with at a later time. Even if we wanted to pray for someone we question what to say, how to pray, when to pray, are we doing it correctly.
Well, He does care, and He does listen, and He wants to use you in the life of others. We were not created to be islands but to be engaged with those God has put into our lives and prayer is one way we can be connected in an intimate way. For some time now, I have had a burden to help others see the key role praying scripture has in the life of others. This is not a list of formulas or canned words, it's my journey of praying scripture, God's own words back to Him and the effect it has had on myself and those for whom I have prayed. Jesus is The Counselor. He knows exactly where people are and what they need.
We all know someone who is hurting, backsliding, perhaps does not know the Lord at all, or a marriage on the rocks. They ignore your witnessing and words of encouragement. They say you cannot possibly know how they feel so you cannot be of any help. I have great news. You can give them something. You can give them your time each day in God’s Word praying scripture for them through the prompting of the Holy Spirit and bringing them before the Lord. It is a privilege to be able to come to the throne of God with requests not only for yourself, but also for another. He delights in that. In fact the Apostle Paul, in I Timothy 2:1 urges, “that entreaties, and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men.”(NASB). I started praying for my son, deeply desiring him to grow in the Lord, terribly afraid he would make the same mistakes I had made. It’s the place to start. God’s Word.
Bring your loved ones, your worries, your fears before Him. I am here to tell you that there is nothing we humans can do that God cannot by far outdo. There is no therapist wiser the God. There is no therapy that heals more completely than His touch. He performs emotional surgery that far-surpasses any psychiatrist. Grandmas, what better gift can you leave your grandchildren than a Bible that showed you prayed specifically for them? Moms, what about your prodigal? Pray them back to the Lord. Teenagers, start praying through a bible now for your future spouse. What a wonderful gift to give them on your wedding day. "To make intercession for men is the most powerful and practical way in which we can express our love for them." John Calvin
Perhaps you think, like I once did, that because of your past you have nothing to offer the future. Oswald Chambers writes "The circumstances of a saint’s life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you cannot understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God is bringing you into places and among people and into conditions in order that the intercession of the Spirit in you may take a particular line. Never put your hand in front of the circumstances and say – I am going to be my own providence here, I must watch this, and guard that. All your circumstances are in the hand of God, therefore never think it strange concerning the circumstances you are in. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to enter into the agony of intercession, but to utilize the common-sense circumstances God puts you in, and the common-sense people He puts you amongst by His providence, to bring them before God’s throne and give the Spirit in you a chance to intercede for them."
"Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story - those He redeemed from the hand of the foe." Psalm 107:2 (NIV)
Here is a bit of my story of how God brought me out of a painful past after years of wrestling with Him, and then led me toward a passion to pray, first for my son and then for others. I challenge you, as you read my story to ask God to impress on your heart someone for whom you will commit to prayer.
Mother's Elbows On My Bed
I was but a youth and thoughtless,
As all youths are apt to be;
Though I had a Christian mother
Who had taught me carefully.
There came a time when pleasure
Of the world came to allure,
And I no more sought the guidance
Of her love so good and pure.
Her tender admonitions fell
But lightly on my ear,
And for the gentle warnings
I felt an inward sneer.
But mother would not yield her child
To Satan's sinful sway,
And though I spurned her counsel
She knew a better way.
She made my room an altar,
A place of secret prayer,
And there she took her burden
And left it in His care.
And morning, noon and evening
By that humble bedside low,
She sought the aid of Him who
Understands a mother's woe.
And I went my way unheeding,
Careless of the life I led,
Until one day I noticed
Prints of elbows on my bed.
Then I saw that she had been there
Praying for her wayward boy,
Who for love of worldly pleasure
Would her peace of mind destroy.
Long the conflict raged within me,
Sin against my mother's prayers,
Sin must yield - for Mother never
While she daily met Him there.
And her constant love and patience
Were like coals upon my head,
Together with the imprints
Of her elbows on my bed.
And so at last the fight was won,
And I to Christ was led,
And mother's prayers were answered
By her elbows on my bed.
Author Unknown
THE MISSION
Encouraging those who think that because of their past they have nothing to offer the future.