Well it depends. It depends on what the Holy Spirit says on how I will pray. I am grateful to pray for others. I am also grateful to be able to teach others how to pray effectively. Prayer is a blessing twice warmed. Once to the heart of the one asking. Twice to the one asked. And is this going to be a prayer of healing the sick, a new job, finances, a worrisome child, a marriage, a relationship and all sorts of normal human interactions we all struggle with? No problem!! I get that! We can be the "where two or three" and every so happily. My heart is all for that!
Now... eerie music queued...dun dun dunnnn... there is the prayer to maintain the wallow of self. In Ephesians 6:18 is says "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." Now why do you suppose God would want us alert and mindful enough to pray in the Spirit praying for others requests? Well... let me tell you about an experience I had with just this very thing.
A woman contacted me out of the blue and stated "would you pray for me?" She did not say why but I still sought help from the Holy Spirit in this and was led to ask her a few questions. One being "Do you believe in Jesus and did you ask Him into your heart?" which seemed to trigger a 1000 word response to the woes of her life and yet she never really did answer me directly. During this venting, I was led over and over again to counter all of her 'yeah buts' with "Give it to Jesus." which led to reassuring her into realizing that yes indeed He had hear her, He did know of her ongoing dilemmas, and many of her answers had been manifested but all in all were of His will, His way, His timing and she should just take this time to PRAISE HIM! and reestablish her own relationship with Him and let Him take care of all the others. This was met with another 100o words of excuses and more ammunition to sustain her misery.
I do know of annoyances. I do know of great pain. I do know of great loss. I also know greater joy. Greater happiness. Well how can that be? Well it is like this. For everything there is a season and for everything a purpose. I look for the purpose of the pain and learn it just as fast as I can. And I say thank you Jesus for it. In doing so I am free to receive all the blessing from heaven right down here on earth. I am not bogged down in self-pity or ack! worse yet implementing the actual control over all my domain and the people in it by any means necessary. Seriously, it the thought of it reminds me of trying to wrangle a two year old into a car seat without bribes. Sure you can get them in by force but sooner or later you will hear that "click" of the seatbelt being sprung free.
And okay I own it, I suck at sympathy. But really, it is not that I am unsympathetic but if you want someone to roll around in the mire with you, know this! I will not be getting my shoes dirty. I would rather help you up and out so we can go shoe shoppin' together. Everything I am. Everything I do. Is for the Glory of Jesus.
Okay back to the point of this story and why heed the Holy Spirit when another asks to you to pray for them. Every once in a while the devil will throw in a ringer just to disrupt your day, your thoughts, your peace. This woman was its puppet. And no, she was not successful. And the enemy lost again. hahahahahaaaaa And yet she still got prayed for, The Holy Spirit is doing a mighty re-think in this new up and coming Jesus warrior so THANK YOU JESUS! Oh How I love you. I will praise you in all storms.
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