How Can I Pray for You?

How can I pray for you? What a powerful question that can change the trajectory of someone’s day. It’s a question I’ve gotten to ask a lot during my time serving as a chaplain at the Dallas Processing Center for Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child ministry initiative. It’s also a question I ask a lot while making my rounds ministering to people during my worksite visits as a chaplain for Marketplace Chaplains. It’s really a question you and I should be asking our family, friends, and neighbors in our daily interactions with people.

Prayer is powerful. Prayer works. I know that there are a lot of doubters that think prayer is a trite response amid life’s greatest crisis. People think we need action, not thoughts and prayers. We do need action. Prayer is an action. Prayer is a verb, not just a noun.

Prayer refers to:

a devout petition to God or an object of worship.
a spiritual communion with God or an object of worship, as in supplication, thanksgiving, adoration, or confession.
the act or practice of praying to God or an object of worship.
a formula or sequence of words used in or appointed for praying: the Lord’s Prayer.
prayers, a religious observance, either public or private, consisting wholly or mainly of prayer.
that which is prayed for.
a petition; entreaty.
the section of a bill in equity, or of a petition, that sets forth the complaint or the action desired.
a negligible hope or chance: Do you think he has a prayer of getting that job?

One of my goals for 2020 (yes, it’s almost here!) is to improve and grow in my prayer life. For me in my line of work, prayer is an essential tool and weapon that I need to employ in order to serve and minister to others. In his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul lists prayer as an integral piece of a spiritual warrior’s equipment. Scripture also tells us that the fervent prayers of a righteous believer have great power.

How is your prayer life?

What methods or practices do you recommend to someone who is seeking to improve their prayer life?