I am known in my little circle for my prayers. Not sure how that happened, but I am hearing it more and more. My son calls me and says, “do what you do best”… and he then proceeds to tell me his current prayer project. Yesterday at church, I was greeted in the parking lot by a woman who attends our ladies’ meetings. She said, “I was going to send you an email, PPP (Pray, Polly, Pray), and she went on to tell me her latest needs.
Don’t get me wrong, I love it when my family and friends include me in their prayer circle. I do pray. I pray often; I pray with fervor, I pray specifics. Doesn’t everyone? We are supposed to pray. We are supposed to offer thanksgiving and prayers without ceasing. (I Thess 1:3; 2 Thess 2:13) Now, obviously, I have to do my work, attend to family responsibilities, and do my normal day to day activities. I do not mean to say that I am on my knees for long periods of time. What I am saying is that prayer (communication with God) should be a moment by moment exercise for all believers.
We hear, (if we are in the religious world) words like ‘quite time’, ‘devotions’ and ‘secret place.’ I agree, we need quite times, devotions and a secret place where we carve out time to minister to the Lord. That is a set time, something we mark out on our schedules. Each of us will do this with a different place, time, and reference book. These things are a given. What I am talking about is what we call ‘pronto prayer.’ This is taking a moment at any time of the day or night to offer up supplications, petitions, or thanksgiving as the need arises.
How often do we say, “I will agree with you in prayer, I will pray for you,’ in the time when we see a loved one hurting, only to realize days later that we have not fulfilled our obligation? We get busy, we become distracted, something more urgent hits the radar screen, and despite our good intentions, we don’t pray.
I am a needy person. I have huge needs in my life, that if God doesn’t step in, I am toast. I need to pray. I need the prayers of agreement of friends and family. I understand the urgent nature of prayer. I understand that I cannot become distracted with the mundane and allow the essentials to be left undone. I understand the ‘reaping and sowing’ principle, and the ‘do unto others’ principle. Maybe that is why I am a pray-er.
What about you? Where is prayer (supplication and thanksgiving) in your daily list of priorities? How needy are you? How much do you depend on others to lift your needs?
Are you a pray-er?
Until next time,
Polly
