What can I do? Pray!

Recently I have seen some of my co-workers start to struggle with some things.  This is ranging from them making poor choices that maybe they are not aware will impact them in the future, and I am concerned about them.  Then there were some other co-workers that I have seen struggling with their health.  I have been struggling to know what I should do in order to help them.  Can I make them a meal, or should I spend time talking to them? What can I do?  What will make the biggest impact on their lives and truly help them? I’m not a doctor, and I am not a person who can make choices for other people.  However, then I had a realization that one of the biggest things that I can do is to go to the Lord in prayer.  I always have the ability to pray, and I need to become more aware of the impact that can make on a person’s life.  

If I am being honest, I am a doer, and so sometimes when I think that prayer is all I can do, I basically go to the thought that I am doing nothing.  I am not actually doing anything.  I am not serving, or giving, so therefore I might as well as be doing nothing.  However, I realized that it was such a wrong thought to have.  When we are praying, especially for someone, we are lifting that up to the maker of the universe and the most holy being there is.  There isn’t anything better that we can do.  Even if it doesn’t feel as though we are physically fixing the problem ourselves, we are going to the one who can truly fix it.  

There are many verses that are in the Bible that also highlight the importance of prayer.  One of those verses is James 5:16, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”  The first part of the verse highlights how important it is to have a community of believers.  It is important that we have the people to talk to and even confess our struggles with.  That is important.  When we can talk to someone about our struggles, even with our sins and doubts,  we have a bigger ability to grow and develop as both Chrsitians and people.  

Of course, the next thing is to pray for each other, so that we each can be healed.  I believe that this is healing that can take various forms.  This can be both physical healing, emotional healing, and spiritual healing.  This is important because again we as people can not fully heal someone.  While doctors have the ability to heal the body for as much as their expertise can give, it is truly the Lord that guides the hands and provides the main healing.  The same is true for those who are counselors and provide spiritual/emotional healing.  While again, they have expertise, and they have the ability to provide strength emotionally, they are still only allowed to heal those as much as the Lord provides.  

The last part of the verse is also very important.  “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”  This is a good reminder for me that even though it feels like I can do more for people, really at the end of the day, prayer for those is what is actually the most important.  The verse even uses words like powerful and effective.  The Lord has given us a strong spirit through the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is also great at guiding us in our journey of wanting to pray for others.  The Holy Spirit helps lead our prayers when we are praying over others.  This is because the Lord and therefore, the Holy Spirit knows what the person needs more than we do.

One other verse that talks about the importance of prayer is Mark 11:22-24.  This says, “Have faith in God,’ Jesus answered. ‘I tell you the truth. If anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”  Now, I won’t lie, I know that this verse has been used inappropriately in the past.  There are many that believe that this means they can get whatever they want from the Lord, and he is like a giving machine or a giving box.   This is not what the Lord is.  He is a Holy being who has a very sovereign plan for our lives.  Ultimately if the Lord truly does not want something to be done, then he will not plan it to happen, but he will also always listen to our prayers and our deepest desires.  

One other verse that I looked at that discussed the importance of prayer is 1 John 5:14, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”  Again, this is another reminder that the Lord hears us every single time we pray.  We can have full confidence in that. In the end, there are going to be times that we really want to have an impact on the people in our lives.  My challenge for you is to write down a few people that you want to be praying for on a regular basis, and then pray for them.   This can be written down on a notecard or wherever it works best and keep it in a place that you can fully remember to pray.  Then notice how that person’s life has hopefully been impacted by the only one that can change anything.  Also a reminder that prayer can also impact our relationships with people.  There have been many times where I have prayed over my relationships with either my students or others in my life, and it has made our relationships so much better than it was before.  I hope that whatever is laying on your heart for those around you that prayer will make it beneficial.