“I’ll be praying for you.” It’s so easy to say. Sometimes we feel like it is the best or only thing to say to a friend in crisis, whether big or small. Yes, of course, praying is the first and most important thing we can do for someone in need. Intercessory prayer is a part of loving others, so why wait?

It is easier to wait until later, praying in private. We can add the friend to our personal prayer list. If the need is not private, we may also add him or her to our prayer list at church or share the need with a prayer partner or prayer chain.

All these ways of praying are wonderful and Biblical.

But . . .

What if we forget?  We never intend to, but the busyness of life and many things on our minds may crowd out the friend’s need. Sometimes we do not think of it again until we see the person. Then we feel guilty as we ask how things are going knowing we have forgotten to pray.

Some needs are so concerning that we cannot get them off our minds. When a friend is facing a major crisis, such as major illness, divorce, or death of a loved one, our love for them and the seriousness of the situation helps us remember to pray; however, sometimes even those slip our minds as we get involved in the routine of daily life and intercessory prayer is not a priority.

Two things can help us keep our commitment to pray.

First, pray immediately.

We can take time to stop, right then and there, go to our Heavenly Father and bring our petition boldly before His throne. It not only makes sure we do not forget, but shows our friends that we are taking seriously their need for prayer. Also, Jesus said our Father answers when we pray in agreement together. (Matthew 18:19)

Also, hearing us pray out loud in faith may do our friends more good than if we simply prayed later at home. On more than one occasion, Jesus prayed out loud specific things just because others around Him needed to hear His confidence in the Father. In John 11:41-42, just before raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus prayed out loud. He thanked God for hearing Him, then said He knew God always hears Him. He simply said it so others would hear and believe.

My husband attended a Christian conference and ran in to a ministry friend who was struggling. As the friend shared his heart, my husband listened, then offered to pray with the man right then. Some time later, this friend reached out to thank my husband. Life had become so hard that he had intended to go home and kill himself. Having my husband pray for him helped the friend to realize that others care and God cares.

Although this may be an extreme situation, we never know what it means to someone when we take the time to listen and pray. God may use our prayer as the encouragement they need to keep on going in the face of difficult circumstances.

My dear friend and I sat on my back deck swing commiserating about raising our teenagers. We shared our hearts and our desire to raise our children to follow God wholeheartedly. Before she left, we prayed out loud for each other. Her prayer was such a blessing to my soul, as I hope mine was to hers.

Another time to pray immediately is when we see social media prayer requests. It’s easy to type “praying” and go on to the next post. We must be sure we are actually praying when we type the word. Taking a few seconds to pray right then ensures we actually carry the request before Jesus who desires us to communicate with Him continually. (2 Thessalonians 5:17)

Second, write it down.

 

Now, most of the time we do not carry a pencil and paper around, but who doesn’t have a phone available at almost all times? When we make a note of at least the friend’s name and put it somewhere we will see it again, we will remember to pray again.

It’s okay to say, “I want to be sure I pray for you regularly, so let me write it down.”

We might want to even create a reminder on our phone that will send an alert to pray at a particular time. If a doctor’s visit, court date, or meeting over a broken relationship is upcoming, set a reminder to pray. Then we can send our friend an encouraging message to let him or her know we did not forget to bring the need before God in prayer.

 

Intercessory prayer is Biblical and immediate prayer is often best.

 

James urges us to pray for one another. (James 5:16) Paul asks his friends to pray for him. (Ephesians 6:19-20) Jesus prayed for His disciples (John 17), and continues to intercede for us. (Hebrews 7:25) The Holy Spirit intercedes for us. (Romans 8:26) Intercessory prayer (praying for others) is a vital part of a Christian faith community.

Dear friends, may we remember, prayer is our first priority in spiritual warfare. God wants us to spend time with Him in prayer alone, but immediate intercessory prayer together draws us closer to each other as brothers and sisters in Christ as well as to our Heavenly Father.

How or when do you pray for others? I’d love to hear how God is leading you. Please comment below.