An enduring legacy of a friend of mine who recently passed away is that he kept a very detailed prayer list – which he prayed daily, weekly, monthly. When he revealed to me what God had led him to pray for me, it humbled me – nearly to tears. In his countless hours of prayer, my friend had heard God speak things to pray for me that I knew God had also been privately speaking to me for many years – and God even gave each of us the same verse from the Bible. My friends’ prayer list was very long. He kept tabs on friends, family, ministries, leaders, governments and more – simply so that he could keep their needs lifted in prayer to the throne room and altar of God’s grace.
When my friend passed away last year, I felt a weight land on me. His loss to me, and to my family, was unlike any non-family member i’ve ever known. His prayers for my family and I had been answered so many ways, so many times, it would require a book to explain. It’s not as though he was a man with nothing else to do. He was a very busy man, with a family of his own, with great responsibilities in his work. But, he prioritized prayer very seriously. He kept a prayer spreadsheet, which he visited and updated daily. We never had a conversation where my friend did not update that spreadsheet to pray for current needs.
I learned so much from him. It wasn’t as though I learned any new information; but rather that I saw modeled in front of me what I already knew, but rarely did: praying for all fellow believers in Christ (saints), for governors, for the work of the gospel ministry – continuously. He was a man that had developed a practice into a habit, and turned that into a discipline – because he believed. He had unshakeable faith that his prayers were part of God’s work in the world, and by faith he kept lifting them up.
Those prayers impacted so many people. His friends and family were helped, encouraged, built up, and each of us saw God at work through the disciplined praying of my friend.
The question I ask myself, and share with you is: How long is your prayer list? Paul the Apostle said:
“…praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel…”
You may recognize this as the conclusion of Paul’s teaching on the “full armor of God” in Ephesians Chapter 6. We are in the most tumultuous times, friend. We need to be prayerful like no other time since the Apostles. Paul is telling us there that prayer is a weapon of war against evil. Do the days look evil to you? Then praying is of vital importance above all things. But we also have to understand that our prayers must be for what is right, more than against what is wrong. For the Kingdom of God and the Gospel of Jesus, more than against sin, evil, or disobedience. I’m not saying that those aren’t problems – I’m saying that we’re called to pray for the only answer: the Gospel.
Well, some people say that Paul is teaching a different way than Jesus did. Yet, I am fully persuaded that the Lord Jesus taught intercession as central to all prayer, when He answered the disciples who asked Him to teach them to pray, saying:
“…Our Father… give us this day… lead us… deliver us…”
So, praying continually for all the saints, is central to all Biblical prayer. Praying for the Kingdom to come and His will to be done is praying for the mystery of the Gospel to spread and become known.
So, how long is your prayer list? Let us know. I’m working on making mine a little longer.
Check out our new book; The Jesus Adventure – Journey to Spiritual Freedom
