I was recently notified of a friend who passed away after a long health fight. I’m saddened of their passing, but more saddened for their family and those that were dependent on this person for living and other life realities.
One of the things that occurred to me after I was told of this person’s passing was that they actually sent me an email and asked me to just remember them in prayer and to lift them up anytime I thought about it.
I am SO thankful that I didn’t simply dismiss their request. I prayed for them. I actually stopped, paused, and intentionally prayed – interceded – for them.
I’m very thankful for this because there are enough other examples in my life where I actually had to repent and apologize because I didn’t pray for the person. I didn’t honor their request. Either I dismissed their prayer request as rhetoric or got distracted or forgot or didn’t take it serious or just brushed them aside.
And now with social media, it is so much easier to simply reply, ‘praying’ or “I got you” when we don’t really mean it or we respond only as a figure of speech.
I’m not sure about you, but a prayer request is a big deal. Why? Prayer is a big deal. God is a big God. And when the two (God and prayer) connect, big things happen!
I don’t have to list the thousands of biblical examples nor do I have to list all of times that God has answered my prayers to prove that prayer works. As a matter of fact, prayer is so powerful that it is almost one of those things that God dares us to do. It’s as if God says, “I dare you to pray and see if it works.” I’m not sure where you are with it, but I’m a believer that it works. I’ve experienced it myself.
So, because prayer is such a big deal, I just wanted to caution you – it may not be wise to simply dismiss a prayer request. If you can’t pray, pass the request along to someone who can. If you can’t honor the person or their requests, be honest about that. If someone on your social media needs prayer and you won’t remember, don’t respond. BUT if you do respond, if you say that you’ll pray for someone, if you keep the prayer request – just pray. It’s a big deal.
P.S. – Here are some scriptures on prayer. And more here. AND even more here. Enjoy!