"I pray for them"
John 17:9
I had coffee with my cousin the other day. Well, not really, because my cousin lives in Oregon, and I live in California. Getting together for coffee would be tricky... Plus, this gal was blond, and my cousin is a brunette. They have different names, too... and occupations.... oh, and I wasn't at all related to the gal I had coffee with.
But you know, other than that....
Well, okay, here's what really happened. I had coffee with a new friend the other day. I'd never met her before. She's a homeschooling mom too; a friend of a friend, and we were getting together so that I could give her some books I no longer needed, as her kids are younger than mine. So we chatted for a half an hour or so, comparing notes and encouraging each other on the ups and downs of homeschooling. But I kept thinking of my cousin, because this gal had the same smile as my cousin. So after we left the not-so-ubiquitous local coffee house {we had decided to try to boost the business for a mom-and-pop place nearby!} I found myself thinking about my cousin the rest of the day.
Have you ever done that? Found yourself thinking about someone, kinda out of the blue, because you saw or heard something that reminded you of them? It's such a wonderful prayer prompt. When I was in high school, I moved from one side of the country to the other, so of course I made a whole new set of friends. But I often wondered if God had given me my new friends in such a way as to remind me of my old friends. Because for many of them, there was something specific that made me think of someone I'd left. Like Kathy, who had the same curly hair as Rachel. Or Lisa, who laughed like Julie. When I was little, I thought that when God was designing people, He had a finite number of facial features to choose from. So He'd think, "I'll use nose #6 for her, along with mouth #4; that'll be a nice combination." And then anytime you saw someone with nose #6 and mouth #4, they'd remind you of that other person you knew with that combination.
I'm older now, and I'm pretty sure He doesn't work that way.
But maybe.
But I definitely believe that He allows people or events or circumstances in our lives, that are going to remind us of people. And that that should prompt us to pray. God loves intercessory prayer. Today's highlighted verse, from John 17, is proof of that. Jesus, while on earth, gave His disciples ~ and us ~ an example of how to be an intercessor, when He prayed to His Father for His disciples, and for those who would come after them ~ meaning, of course, us.
It is so easy to be all-consumed with our own lives and wants and needs. I think it's fair to say that for every one of us, praying for others should take a higher priority than it does. Take advantage of those reminders of people in your life that would appreciate your prayers. Maybe even design some triggers. You could decide to pray for your mom every time you see a red car. Or to pray for your nation's military every time you see your national flag. Or to pray for someone who's hurting when you pass an ambulance. Or pray for your spouse every time you pass one of those ubiquitous coffee houses. Ask Him to prompt you, and He will. And then it's up to you to follow through.
And Linda? I hope you had a good day on Friday. Cuz you were on my heart :)
~ "they fell down before the Lamb,
each having a harp,
and golden bowls full of incense,
which are the prayers of the saints" ~
Revelation 5:8
No comments:
Post a Comment