I remember as a child I would always want to be the first to answer questions or get involved in whatever was going on. I guess a lot of those raised hands was because I liked the attention and wanted to impress the teacher or the adult in charge. That volunteering aspect of my life didn’t change much as I grew as an adult. However, the avenue for volunteering did change. In college, church, and home, I took on the roles I felt were mine, or that no one else wanted to do. Now that I am a senior citizen my body can’t keep up with my mind. Therefore, I have learned to think before I raise my hand. I have learned to prioritize what and when I want to be the one.
I want to be the one to pray when people ask for prayer.
We are commanded in I Thessalonians 5:17, to pray without ceasing, to stay our minds so much on Christ that we are praying in our minds wherever we are, about any situation. You can’t do this unless you are meeting daily with God. You need to meet early with Him to have your mindset for the day.
In Colossians 1:9, we are to pray to be filled with knowledge and wisdom of God’s will and have spiritual understanding. This will only be answered as we study and know God’s word. Many times people pray about what situations they should be involved in when He has already answered that in His word. For instance, people usually pray for the people they love and dismiss others from their minds. However, In Matthew 5:44, Jesus commands us to pray for our enemies, for those who use us despitefully and persecute us. I doubt your average Christian in America prays this prayer often. More often than not we avoid those who make our lives hard and are unloving to us. Many may never pray this prayer because they have not been a bold enough witness to have enemies. Think about it, do you?
Matthew 5:44 “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;”
We are also to pray in private not to be seen of men. In Matthew 6:5-6, Jesus calls those who pray loudly in public, standing on street corners or wherever they can be seen, hypocrites. His answer to this is to pray in private. That does not mean we are not to pray with the brethren, we should have times of corporate prayer. Jesus had prayer with his disciples often. He had his inner circle, Peter, James, and John, whom he prayed with in Luke 9:28. He went out to pray with many but took those three a little further with Him. We too should have an inner circle of intimate friends that we trust to pray with us and for us. In this, we must also remember to not pray “vain,” meaning empty repetitions. Not some memorized words without heartfelt meaning. For instance, just calling the missionaries names out of a list to fulfill a duty, is not fulfilling our obligation to pray for them. We are to be a prayer warriors for others, and they should know when they ask us to pray, we will pray with our heart and head!
Matthew 6:5-7 “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. ”
We are to pray for laborers in Matthew 9:38, those who will proclaim the gospel and relentlessly seek to win people to God. We need to pray for the sick mentioned in James 5:14, but the most important sickness to pray for is sin sickness. Those who are right with God yet physically sick will spend eternity with Jesus when they die, but those who are lost will spend eternity in Hell when they die. Do you spend as much time praying for the spiritually sick as you do the physically sick? I confess I don’t, but I should. I want to be the one who will pray! Pray first in the day, keeping a mindful prayer attitude during the day, and end the day in prayer. I have tried to make it a habit if someone asks me to pray, I stop then and pray. I’m afraid if I don’t, I will forget and that would make me a liar.
Ask yourself, am I faithfully praying for myself, for the problems of others, for those who are sin-sick, and those who are physically sick. Do you want to be the one others think of when they need prayer?
