There’s a country music song with the lyrics- “I pray your brakes go out runnin’ down a hill. I pray a flowerpot falls from a window sill and knocks you in the head like I’d like to. I pray your birthday comes and nobody calls. I pray you’re flyin’ high when your engine stalls. I pray all your dreams never come true. Just know wherever you are honey, I pray for you.”Pray for you
What are they praying for?
I wonder from time to time if that’s what people mean when they say, “Jeff, I’ll pray for you.”
Have you ever wondered what are they praying for? Are they praying for my health? Are they praying for my wealth? Are they praying for my downfall? Maybe they’re praying for my death?!?
Why are they praying?
The very act of prayer itself indicates a relationship. Prayer first demonstrates a relationship between the person praying and God. It’s a basic indicator of a relationship with God (1 Timothy 2:8). It should be unceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Prayer can take on many different forms (Ephesians 6:18). Your prayers should lead to action (1 Corinthians 14:14-15).
Prayer also demonstrates a relationship between the one praying and the one for whom they’re praying. James 5:13-14 demonstrates this relationship. (Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.) I am sure you don’t pray for someone you’ve never heard or never met before. All prayer indicates a relationship between two people. The closer the relationship, the more you should be willing to pray for each other.
What is the point of prayer in the first place?
Why did God create prayer in the first place? Why is it necessary to pray? Why do all people all over the globe all throughout human history pray? Here’s my answer to those questions.
We are trying to restore something that was broken. Genesis 1:26 explains that we’re created in the image of God. We were also created to have an intimate relationship with God. This relationship was destroyed way back in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve committed the first sin (Genesis 3:8). Ever since that day, all of us have had a broken relationship with God.
Prayer is designed to help restore our relationship with our Creator! At its very essence, prayer is the head that knits our heart to the heart of God. When we spend time in prayer God starts to move in our hearts. The more time that we spend in prayer the more our hearts start to beat like God’s heart beats. When we spend time in prayer we start to see the world the way God sees the world. We start to love people the way God loves people.
I like to think of it this way… Prayer is a thermometer for your soul. If your soul is far from God, your prayers will be weak and infrequent. When your soul is near the heart of God your prayers will be powerful and frequent. What’s the temperature of your soul today?
