Who are you praying for?

All to many people think you pray in the morning at meals and at bedtime and in crises. I do all these things but we do not have to be restricted to specific time slots. Many of times I see something beautiful while driving I say Oh thank you Lord for this sight. or When I see some ambulance go by or other emergency vehicle I will say a qiuck prayer to help the families and watch of medical help. We do not need long prayers. It can be quick thoughts or aknoledgement of praises. We do not have to be formal be informal. Some people may think your talking to yourself but who cares. Small aknoledgements in front of others let others enjoy or maybe see for the first time the wonder of Heavenly Farther.

I think making a list of people and their prayer requests would help in remembering to pray for others. We usually learn about others needs and petitions in church when they make them known. Sometimes we learn about other's petitions by phone when we are speaking with someone. Making this list would make things much easier for our memories so that we won't forget to pray for others.

What a great question Tami! I have periods where my prayer life seems to diminish greatly and then other times when it is really good. I notice that the "high times" are those when I am really into the word and really focusing on God--going through a spiritual growth perhaps. One of the habits that I've tried to maintain is praying for people when they come to mind. Sometimes people cross my mind...and I don't really know why and I will say a prayer for them. I believe it's the holy spirit giving me this "nudge." I use to think that prayers had to always be long and in depth, but I've learned that even small, short prayers are significant. So, I try to get them in whenever I have a chance. I also constantly remind myself...the more I talk to God...the better my relationship will be with Him.

The Apostle had a heart and passion for those he came in contact with. He didn't invent this - he was only copying the Saviour he loved. We need to develop this passion and like was said earlier, quick, simple, short prayers throughout the day is a great way to lift our hearts, and bring others in need of His touch, up to the Lord!

I have to echo Ed's comment- until we have a passion for people, we won't effectively pray for them! It is so hard to put others first, as we are commanded and directed, because hard as we may try not to be, we are self-centered. The Lord's example is to be God-centered and other-centered
I love people, b ut I constantly find myself too wrapped up in my own life.
There are those who can take a list and hit the bulls eye as they intercede before God. I am not really a list-prayer, so for me that is not very effective. I have to ask the Holy Spirit to remind me of needs and requests,and He is faithful. Not to bring up a controversial subject, but I think it very important. I have begun praying in the Spirit (tongues) more and more as the years have passed. I have to admit that I don't always know how to pray, but He does, and when i pray in tongues, I am rehearsing the prayer that God has for that person. It can;t get more perfect than that. Talk about hitting a bulls-eye!!!
Prayer is truly one of the greatest gifts we have been given and we all need to grow in that area. No beating ourselves up- just reaching higher each day!

I have listened and enjoyed hearing about Joseph and all that he went through. It has often been an encouragement to me in going through life to think back about Joseph and the fact that what the devil meant for evil, God used for good. It helps when going through difficult seasons of life to know that when God is in it, is going to turn out o.k. I have known this bible story since I was a little girl (I am now a great grand mother) but I have looked forward eagerly each day to hearing about Joseph and his family and being reminded how God can turn a bad situation into a good one for His honor and Glory.

I agree with Wanda about talking to God in your mind or out loud on an ongoing basis. I heard it referred to once as "practicing the presence of Jesus) I too, find that I am grateful for so many of the things that we see every day in nature that God has created. I am so glad that we are not limited to special times to pray or certain positions of prayer. But the scripture that says "pray always" certainly frees us up to do just that and that special relationship with Jesus keeps us close to Him and brings joy to our hearts. I thank the Lord for the privilege of prayer.

That's interesting: I also pray for others, their families and caregivers when I hear a siren or see an ambulance. A prayer of thanksgiving when I see or hear a sight that is breathtaking or moving in my soul is a reminder of what God can do for us every day! I like the reminder above that prayer can be short - and sweet. The important thing is to pray and the more I can put it into action the better I am in touch with Him, cultivating our relationship. How easy it could be to turn a frustrating moment into a moment with the Lord, asking for strength or looking with a different perspective, appreciating that the moment may in fact be a teaching moment for me; sounds easy to do but I forget a lot of times and instead feel bad for blowing up at myself.

Thanks for the suggestion to pray for whomever comes to mind; that is different and I am curious to become more aware for whom the Spirit might indeed lead me to pray.

And thanks to all of the BTTB staff for the opportunity to grow in faith and God's Word.

Through the New Covenant we can now go straight to God in prayer. Not so in the days of Moses and Aaron etal. So I thank God that I can come directly to Him. God loves us so much that He has opened this door for us to come in and pray not just for ourselves but also for family, friends and anyone who ask. I thank Him for creation its beauty and wonder.

Our Church is by the seaside (it is over 170 years old) and whenever I go there I just have to stand and admire the beauty of the blue skies with the "cotton candy" looking clouds - the beautiful Caribbean sea - the beautiful colours of blues and green. So many persons just come in to have a look and you just cannot view something like this and not thank God.

God has truly blessed us all with different types of beauty where we live, so it is always good to let Him know how appreciative we are. I thank Him for reserving a parking place at the supermarket or wherever. If someone was kind to let me through traffic, I pray and thank God for that person. I pray sometimes for all who travel whether by land, sea or sky even when I do not know of anyone travelling. I think it is good to pray for people whether we know it or not. I too have to make a list of persons requesting prayers because sometimes I cannot remember who had asked so it is good to write these down.

I pray for Powered by 4 and BTTB for the wonderful work they are doing in reaching out to us and others and that God will continue to give them the strength and the resources to continue so please add them to your list. God bless you all.

Along with the comments already given, I also find myself praying for people I see while driving, especially if they demonstrate a lack of concern for those around them in their driving habits. My prayer time varies from structured to random times. I do find that when I make time for structured prayer, getting alone with God with no distractions, I feel His presence in my life more vividly. It has been this type of prayer, when I give myself totally over to Him, that He has revealed answers to me or granted an answer to my plea for others. This makes sense to me, because God wants a relationship with us, and so delights in our giving Him the time He deserves. My prayer life has been an area of discipline I struggle with, but my hope is to continue to grow in it.

Like many others I have kept a prayer book. I was concerned that someone would ask me to pray for them and I might forget. If someone asks you to pray for them and you say I will and don't it is a sin. The church I attended before I moved had electronic prayer. I would receive pray requests all day. some from children sick and others haveing surgery and many other. It was another way to reach many people daily. I have been part of large prayer groups. Each person prays for a group of people who need prayers. Like others I have structure prayer time and some random but their is alot of instant pray . Prayer was so important to Jesus that he taught the disciple how to pray in Luke chapter 11

This got me thinking....if we are in a relationship with another person, be it a spouse or a friend, so we not communicate with this person? How could our relationship with God be any different? We need to both speak and listen. It is the listening that I fail at the most. It comes easy for me to pray about needs and blessings, but I often fail to wait for His response. Just yesterday, I made the time to 'be still and know that He is God' and heard a great answer to something that has been bothering me. God is GREAT!!!!

Praying for others is often hard. I have found that it is comforting to pray for that Clerk at the store who has a bad attitude. I don't know their situation, but I pray that their day gets better. I pray for that person who cuts me off or sticks up their finger at me as I drive. I don't know their frustration, but sometimes people take risks and don't care about the risk to others. Even at work, when I am dealing with difficult situations, I pray for myself because I want to be a "model" of Who I represent. . . Jesus Christ, but I also pray for those who are being difficult and causing strife just because they can. I know that they may be having a bad day, but I pray they stop being a tool of the devil and allow God to guide them.

With that stated, I agree with my P4 friends and family, we can and should pray for others whenever, wherever all the time.

It is so easy to become/stay self-absorbed. We love it when people pray for us but have difficulty being disciplined to pray for others...or am I just talking about myself?!
Our ladies' Bible Study has been studying intercession and it has challenged me to pray for others. I pray about who to pray about and pray for the first name that pops to my head. If I'm wrong, the worst I've done is pray for someone's good! If I'm awake in the night, I do the same. I try to pray while driving to work and driving home. This study (Possessing The Gates of the Enemy by Cindy Jacobs) has been such a blessing and encouragement to pray for each other and to be sensitive to whatever the Spirit asks us to do.

I find I have trouble remembering to pray too Tami. I say little one liners when I see someone or hear about someones problems. We had a secret pal time at Church and we were suppose to pray for our secret pal. I found I did pretty good at it. Also Pastor requested if we didn't have a pal to pray for the person to the left of us that day. :) I decided then I'd pray for her and her hubby. He said if there is no one there pray for the Church so I added both. I think it is so important for us to pray for otheres and especially those in Church, that is what I learned from Paul in this lesson. I've slowed down over time and I need to pick it back up again. Thank you Tami~!

there is no special way to go about it,we should just let it part of us that any time we are to pray we should intercede for others.