01/26/2020
We pray for others, sometimes for their salvation, but also in their other needs. Has anyone ever asked that you pray for them, or have you volunteered to do so only to walk away and never offer the first word in prayer? Perhaps you simply forgot, maybe you were too busy, or just maybe you said yes to the request just to placate them, and never intended to pray. Did you realize that this is not Christlike, and can even be sinful?
“Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.”
1 Samuel 12:23 ESV
I was convicted last night as I thought back on those times when I promised to pray for someone, but in the hectic pace of life didn’t do so as I said I would. I remembered the times when someone said they were going to have surgery on a certain date and time, and I assured them I would be praying... only to forget until that time was passed. You may have experienced this too; a time when someone told you that a friend’s surgery went well, and suddenly you remembered that you had promised to pray... but didn’t. Friends, our prayers serve God more than those for whom they are offered, and Jesus tells us this in parable...
“And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.”
Luke 12:42-44 ESV
Forgetting to pray for the sick is bad enough, but what about for someone who is struggling with a decision of faith? What about the person who came to the altar on Sunday for the very first time, or a co-worker who said he was seeking God but struggling with whether he was ready to commit himself? This neglect is the sin against the Lord spoken of in scripture... a soul is hanging in the balance but we gave it nary a word in prayer, or a simple mention. Our prayers are more than words...
“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Ephesians 3:14-19 ESV
So as I thought on this subject, my heart broke, my knees bent, and I prayed for my own forgiveness, and salvation. I prayed that God would grant me a perfect memory when it came to prayer, and that as I served Him I would be the faithful and wise manager that fed His household in prayer. Are you ready to sorrowfully join me in this prayer of contrition today? Listen to these poetic words I wrote last night...
Did you pray for me?
By Rich Forbes - 01/25/2020
I was sick to death when you were here
Burning with fever and wrought with fear
Covered in sweat and feeling great pain
Asking you for words of prayer in vain
I could tell you had nothing to say
When looking at me, as you walked away,
Said you would pray for a healing touch;
In suffering I thanked you oh so much
But did you pray for me
When you said you would?
Did you say the words
That would do me good?
Did you pray for me
Cry out to the Lord
Or just walk away
Leave my needs ignored
I know you meant to say healing words
Praying out loud so they were heard
Feel the heartbreak and cry the tears
Calling out for Jesus to come near
But did you pray, intercede for me,
Weep in the spirit on bended knee
Were the words all yours or come in moans
Did you pray for me or was I alone
Did you pray for me
When you said you would?
Did you say the words
That would do me good?
Did you pray for me
Cry out to the Lord
Or just walk away
Leave my needs ignored
Tonight when you bow to say your prayers
Do you want the Lord to hear you there?
Then turn His back on your short comings
Say I’ll pray for you then do nothing?
Don’t see my suffering and hear the pain
Then walk away facing God in shame
For all the words that should have been said
For suffering souls in hospital beds
Did you pray for me
When you said you would?
Did you say the words
That would do me good?
Did you pray for me
Cry out to the Lord
Or just walk away
Leave my needs ignored
Did you pray for me
Set the Spirit free?
My friend, my good friend,
Did you pray for me
Did you pray for me
Set the Spirit free?
My friend, my good friend,
Did you pray for me
Prayer:
Father, thank you for all the opportunities I have to pray for those in need, and thank you for the trust you place in me to do so. Help me Lord to be attentive to this duty, and to pray as I should lest I disappoint you, or even sin against you. I weep today for the prayers that I never said, and I toss in sweat lying on my bed for the sick that suffered when my best wasn’t there... no thought, no care, not a word of prayer. Forgive me Father and gird up my resolve to intercede as Christ does for every man’s cause. I pray, I plead, I seek your strong arm to gather your mercy to them when fellow souls face great harm. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God whose Spirit leads me in prayer. I praise your name Gracious God, not for the power of my prayers, but for the strength of your response to even the simplest of them. Great are you in mercy and grace, and may all glory be yours in every prayer, and multiplied by your grace through Christ which is shown to all. I worship you now Father, and seek your throne in the midst of fragrant scent as my prayers for your children rise up forevermore.
“And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.”
Revelation 8:3-4 ESV
Rich Forbes