Praying For Others Is a Struggle
Tuesday’s Verse:
From Philemon 1:4 ESV
“I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers.”
Paul writes this letter while in prison. Chained. Confined. Unsure of what the future might bring. And yet his first response when he thinks of Philemon is thankfulness. Not guilt. Not duty. Thankfulness.
“I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers.”
Notice what Paul doesn’t say. He doesn’t say, “I got around to praying for you finally.” He doesn’t lament that he should pray more. Instead, he simply says thanks.
Prayer can be a barometer for many of us. We know we should pray for people. We know we forget. We know we fail. Soon, prayer becomes another opportunity to look at ourselves and see our shortcomings.
But here is the gentle beauty of this verse: Christian prayer doesn’t start with our effort. It starts with God’s grace.
Paul thanks my God. Pay attention to that phrase. The God that Paul thanks is already Paul’s God. Paul’s God by promise. Paul’s God by baptism. Paul’s God by virtue of Christ’s finished work on the cross. Paul begins his prayer by responding to what God has already done.
In our Lutheran tradition, prayer is never a good work we’ve performed to earn God’s favor. Prayer is our response of faith to a Father who has already welcomed us into his family. “We pray,” Luther writes in the Small Catechism, “because our gracious God and Father earnestly invites us with his holy gospel to believe that He is our Father… and we are His children.”
When your prayers are few and far between, Christ’s prayer for you is not. Scripture reminds us that Christ Himself intercedes for us before the Father’s throne. When you can’t pray or your prayers are feeble and forgetful, your Savior’s aren’t.
Sometimes prayer starts like this, “Lord thank You for this person.” No grand monologue. No eloquent prayers. Simply remembering and thanking God.
If praying for others is a struggle for you, begin small. When someone pops into your head, thank God for one thing about them. It’s already genuine prayer. It’s already faith expressing itself.
You are not made right with God by how well you pray. You are made right with God by Christ. And because of Him, you can pray repentantly, imperfectly, and frequently.
✝️ A Prayer for Today:
Lord God, you are my Father through Jesus Christ. I fail to pray. At times, I treat prayer like a chore. Forgive me. Thank You for the people You have placed in my life. When I think of them, let me thank You for them. And when I don’t, remind me that Christ does not forget about me. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
The photo above is licensed through Unsplash+