The default response

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people… 1 Timothy 2:1

Good morning, friends!

I spoke to my sister last night on a phone call. These are a few things that I learned from her.

• My 5 years old niece had an appendicitis surgery a few days ago.
• My 3 years old cousin was beaten up by a staff member at his school and lost a tooth. Highly cruel! He also has some issues with his gums and lips, as a result of the beating. He is a special child in his family as he was born 13 years after his sister was born. We were shocked to hear this as we know that he has never even been spanked by his own mom.
• My maternal Uncle is suffering from Jaundice and my other cousin is suffering some kind of depression due to a financial problem.
• Another Uncle, who was healed from mouth cancer about 10 years ago, now has pain in his mouth due to the laser treatments done to cure his cancer and is not able to eat anything. The doctors have told his family that there is no cure to this and he has to live with this throughout his life.
• My cousin’s one year old daughter, who celebrated her Birthday recently, is not feeling well now, and we found out that this little one has two blocks in her heart.

I could write a few more here… I have a big extended family. But my point is I didn’t know all these things until I called my mom and sister, who are there in our native place. It was a casual, everyday call, but the information I got from them is unusual. I can also add some of my friends’ issues as well.

My response to my sister was, “Okay, let us do one thing. It is our responsibility to pray for them all. Let us spend at least five or ten minutes every day to pray for each of these family members, praying about their very specific needs and safety. Let us not end our prayers after telling Him only about our own needs.”

After the call, when it was bed time, I knew I wanted to follow what I said. Realizing that I have to get up no later than 6 AM to get ready for the office, I thought I would get ready to sleep, and then pray while laying down before sleeping. But as soon as I curled up to one side comfortably I fell into a deep sleep before I finished my first prayer point.

I am sure you, too, hear information like this from your immediate, and extended family, and from your friends as well apart from watching/reading NEWS. I am also sure that we are people oriented. We love them. We cannot, or we never want to, live in isolation. When any of them faces trials, and we get to know about these, the default response from us is always, “I will pray for you.” It’s good to give comforting words. But is that just for that moment? Or are we really taking all these ‘I will pray for you’s seriously? Are we really remembering what we heard, and praying for these matters sincerely? Please remember that they don’t need your sympathy.

Do we really mean what we say we will do, but still are not able to do ? Our prayers can bring healing to someone, can bring breakthroughs in the lives of many, can bring change in laws of nations, can save someone from suicide. Let us remember all those sweet moments when someone came to us  and said, “Hey, your prayers really worked!!! Praise God!!” This will encourage us to pray with a sincere heart! Shall we start doing it today in case we are not doing it now-a-days?  After all, we know we have a prayer answering God!

May God bless your heart that wants to pray for others!