I'll pray for you

I’ll pray for you...

Its a simple statement really, but Christians use it as a way of saying “get me out of this conversation immediately”.  Its not intentional, but its kinda the polite way of saying “look at the tree”, then pointing one direction while frantically running the other.  

Why does this happen when we know we will probably not pray for that person?  

What would it look like if we really took the time to stop and pray for each other?   

What would it look like if when we said that we would pray for someone we really did?  What would it look like if we really were praying without ceasing? (being in an attitude/spirit of prayer)  

We are told in God’s Word to pray without ceasing and in another place to pray for each other, but most of us don’t for some reason. What if we did these things?  It would serve as a reminder that we are to put God first, others second, then ourselves last.  I struggle with this a lot by the way-mostly because I am awesome or at least I think I am.  I believe the reason that we do not do this is because we are selfish.  We live in a me first consumer driven world.  With products that promise health, wealth, good looks, large muscles, and instant happiness, its no wonder we turn to these things before turning to God.  I can buy the latest, greatest product and I will instantly be transformed into Captain Awesome and have my own legion of minions to praise my awesomeness.  

So how do we fix the “I’ll pray for you” problem that has taken over the Christian community?  I want to offer one idea (there are plenty better ones out there).  

I have chosen to specifically pray for one person a day.  I pray for other things/people like I normally would, but chose to focus on praying for someone else who I may not pray for otherwise.  (I’m not intentionally not praying for this person by the way)  I feel that in our world that puts me on a pedestal and others beneath me, it is important to remember to pray for others intentionally and fervently.  I usually contact the person and tell them that I am praying for them specifically and ask them if there is anything in particular I can pray for.  I then do my best to pray for that person and their needs as much as possible throughout the day.  This has caused me to stop focusing on myself and try to focus on the needs for others.  I want to challenge you to do the same thing.  Maintain your normal prayer life, but chose one person a day to pray for.  The person could be someone who you do not normally see, or your best friend.  This has radically changed how I pray for others and I am afraid that I did a horrible job of explaining myself, but hope it at least makes you think about others.  

Thoughts???