I have encountered this situation so many times over the years, and I’m always left wondering why. I’ll be scrolling through Facebook and I’ll see a status update similar to this:
I hardly ever do this sorta thing, but my grandpa is really sick. So could you guys pray for him?
My second thought is always “why?”
Why do you hardy ever do this sorta thing? Why do you hardly ever ask your friends to pray for you? Why does it take something drastic before you “phone a friend” so to speak?
Because here’s the thing. Did you notice where I said this was my second thought? Yes. My first thought is actually one of compassion, empathy, and love, and then I pray for you. It makes me feel good to pray for you. It’s nice to break up the barrage of political posts or angry rants and take a moment to intercede for a friend. I enjoy that.
I don’t know why you are hesitant to ask for prayer more often on social media. Perhaps you consider it an airing of your personal matters and something best left off Facebook, but consider this. Do you have friends and family on there? They want to pray for you. And then there’s many women like myself who enjoy speaking with Jesus on behalf of others. It’s not a burden to me to pray for someone; it’s an honor.
Perhaps you are worried that your specific prayer request doesn’t rank as high as other needs expressed on Facebook. It’s not childhood cancer or the death of a spouse. But think of it this way.
It’s important to God.
God is your father, and He’s my father too. He enjoys hearing from us. He wants to converse with us about everything, and He loves it when we come to Him in need, surrendering ourselves and saying, “I can’t fix this. I need help.” Cause that’s a big part of what prayer is. It’s saying you need help.
So we have no problem asking for help in finding the best mechanic. We have no problem asking for help on which shoes to buy, what restaurant to go to, or even a GoFundMe to support someone else financially. Why can we ask for help on Facebook about everything from which dentist to use to which hotel to book on vacation, but we’re hesitant to ask someone to do the most natural thing in the world? Talk to Jesus.
Maybe you think some people ask for prayer about everything! And you don’t want to be that person! Consider this. You should be honored when someone extends you the invitation to intercede to the Father on their behalf. They’re offering you a chance to please the Lord, help your fellow man, and extend a spirit of love towards your brother! Basically they’ve handed you the chance to do something great, something that builds you treasure in Heaven.
You know who had no trouble asking people to pray for him all the time? Paul.
1 Thessalonians 5:25 ESV
Brothers, pray for us.
Sure, his circumstances were more dire than say me asking for prayers for my kid’s common cold, but do you know who doesn’t measure our needs beside one another like a yardstick-yielding fairy godfather? That’s right. Abba Father.
Psalm 34:17 ESV
When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.
All your trouble, it said. Not just the really, really bad trouble. Or the really, really important trouble. Or just trouble spoken out loud about in a non-annoying way, maybe once every three months or so, trouble. He wants to hear all our troubles, all our praise, all our thanksgiving, all our cries. All. I guess I just consider it a blessing if you decide to share your troubles with me and ask me if I can go talk to Dad about it too. I mean, He really likes when His children come together on a matter.
If you’ve said this before I don’t want you to be offended by my words. Instead I want you to consider why you hardly ever ask your friends to pray for you. I for one don’t mind a bit. I love it in fact. Ask me anytime.