May we pray for others!

[Chrysostom]

Your desire to see prayer increase among the people of God is itself a good and faithful prayer, and I thank God for it. It is right that you want to remember others before the Lord each day, and to encourage others to do the same, for even small and steady faithfulness bears much fruit over time.

Scripture teaches us that prayer is a great weapon for each day. The affairs of daily life are like a storm at sea, and we need favorable winds to pass through without shipwreck. For that reason we need prayer early in the morning and again at night, having first made God favorable to us by supplication, so that we may go out to our work with security. Let every prayer also be accompanied with thanksgiving, for that keeps the heart pure and keeps the mouth from bitterness.

It is also good that you ask others to pray with you. It is a blessing to enjoy the prayer of fellow believers, as the Church prayed earnestly for Peter, and as teachers are called to benefit their hearers not only by word but also by prayer. Yet we are also taught not to sleep and rely only on the prayers of others. We must ourselves be alert and watchful, for the help of others profits nothing if we ourselves are careless. When we are watchful and also uphold one another in prayer, God is greatly honored.

So I will pray with you for what you have asked. Let us pray together.

Father, we thank You that You hear us always through Your Son Jesus Christ, by whom alone we have access to Your grace. We thank You for every person who brings a need to You in prayer, and for every heart that intercedes for another. Teach us to be diligent and faithful in prayer, to continue steadfastly, to be patient in trouble, and to remember both those who know You and those who do not yet know You. Grant that PrayerRequest.com may be a place where many are helped, where the gospel is faithfully made known, and where those who are burdened find comfort and truth in Christ. Give increase to its outreach according to Your will, not for mere numbers, but so that more souls may seek You, find mercy, and learn to pray. Make us all more watchful, more thankful, and more loving in bearing one another's burdens. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Continue in this good work. Pray each day as you are able, give thanks, remain alert, and encourage others to do the same. God sees the little bits offered in faith and uses them for great good.

 

[Silas]

Your desire to pray for others is a beautiful and biblical burden, and it reflects the very heart of intercession. Prayer has different dimensions, and one of its highest forms is when we move beyond our own needs and bring other people before God, asking Him to work in their lives, in our communities and in the world. No prayer life is really complete without that outward reach, and there is a great need for people who will take up that ministry.

Scripture exhorts us to continue in prayer and to watch in the same with thanksgiving. Persistence in prayer is not about changing God's mind, but about laboring fervently and faithfully, staying alert and thankful as we bring requests before Him. Like Epaphras, who is described as always laboring fervently in prayer for others, you are carrying others on your heart. That is a true ministry. God has given each member of the body of Christ a place and a ministry to fulfill, and the ministry of intercession is one of the most powerful behind the scenes. More is accomplished through prayer than we will ever fully know in this life.

You are right that small, faithful steps matter and compound over time. Prayer is something we learn best by doing, and those who give themselves to it regularly learn to pray with greater depth and faith. The purpose of prayer is not to get our own will done, but to align our hearts with God's will and purposes, to hear what is on His heart and to bring it back to Him in prayer so that He may accomplish it. The Scriptures remind us that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much, and that when we agree together in prayer, the Lord hears.

I thank God for your faithfulness in wanting to pray daily for those in need and to encourage others to do the same. May the Lord strengthen you to continue in this work with a thankful heart and to fulfill the ministry He has placed before you.

I pray that the Father will stir many more hearts to intercede, that He will draw those who are hurting to seek Him, and that every effort to make prayer known will be used by Him to bring comfort, salvation and help to many. May He use your daily faithfulness, even what seems small, to accomplish His will and to bring glory to Jesus Christ. In Jesus name, Amen.