I will pray for you. We have all heard this line and more than likely used it ourselves, what has got me thinking is how often I say it and don’t pray. I have every intention to pray, I put reminders in my phone, but still I don’t pray for these people. If you are really honest with yourself we have all done this, we feel like we need to say something spiritual when we hear people are going through a tough patch so we give them a small hug, listen to them and then say I will pray for you then walk away.

I’m not saying there is anything wrong with prayer, in fact I encourage you to pray more, especially in the Spirit if you can. Paul even tells us to pray without ceasing! What I’m pondering at the minute is why I don’t pray with that person when they need prayer, why we don’t set them free from the things that holding them bound! We instead sound spiritual and have every intention to pray for them but really we more than likely won’t pray for them. Why is it we want to sound spiritual but have no action, not once in the gospel have I heard Jesus say I will pray for you and walk away to do it alone. He prayed with them there and then, He laid hands on them and set them free, He listened to them and cared about them and more importantly He showed His faith in His Father because He knew His prayers would be answered.

I believe that many people don’t pray for one another because they don’t want to fail, they also might not know how to pray for someone because prayer has become something the old ladies do in the church. Pray isn’t something the church promotes because it’s boring they will have a worship night instead. They don’t explain how powerful prayer is especially when you pray in faith and that prayer is for every believer.

I know the only way to learn to pray is to actually pray, yes it might not always sound great and be articulate but God sees you heart. We might pray and not get any results, we might have to wait and keep praying but there are lots of stories in the bible where people had to pray more than once for there miracles. Elijah prayed seven times before the promised rain came and when he saw the cloud he stopped he didn’t wait for the rain to pour he had faith that it would rain. He even prayed three times for the woman’s son to be raised from the dead. We might not always see our prayers answered right away but if we don’t pray them then we will never see them take place at all. In Isaiah 55:11 God promised that His word doesn’t return to Him void, this word is the words we pray, this is the words we take from the bible and speak out, if we don’t say them then we can’t moan that nothing happens.

Prayer is the key to unlock the power of God to transform lives, if you struggle to pray daily break it down into 5 minutes then work you way up to an hour or maybe two. You don’t expect a baby to walk the first time they try, they have to practice. Occasionally you will get it wrong and God will not be mad about it He will help you and guide you in your prayers.

I myself talk to God throughout my day in a very personal way like He’s my friend because I am a friend of Gods now because of Jesus. This doesn’t mean I don’t set some time aside to worship Him and pray to Him about things that are going on, I do. I don’t always spend long periods of time doing this because I’m still learning but the more time I spend with Him in prayer the more I long to be with Him. I find that talking to Him throughout the day helps me and praying first thing in the morning with a coffee always helps because I’m talking to my friend.

I have decided that I will not say that I will pray for someone unless I am fully committed to pray for that person instead I will pray there and then. If you actually know me I don’t offer to pray for many people that’s not to say I don’t pray for them I just pray when I feel the need to, the people I actually pray daily for is small because I know that I have to be committed to these people and God. If I say I will pray for you God expects me to pray for you and will ask me one day why I didn’t pray for you, which means I would more rather pray at the time they need it and not pledge to do something I might forget.

I don’t call myself a prayer, I just pray what God lays on my heart at the time and worship Him. I will not say to someone I will pray for you and not do it there and then I now take that very seriously. I will make it my goal to pray for people when they need it and I trust God to give me the words I need to pray. God bless you and keep praying.