Prayers for Others

There are times when it seems that a tsunami of souls struggling to survive washes against the front door of your heart.  Midst all the sunshine, the warm breezes, and the illusion that Spring is near the phone rings with news of friends dying, of another hearing a frightening diagnosis which is upending life, and of another who continues to fight the daily battles of giving care to a family member who hangs on near the end of life.  There is so much which has come this way that praying becomes an exercise in remembering all the ones for whom prayers have been promised.   

Having been one who knows what it is to hang on to a thread of hope because others are praying the prayers impossible to pray, I know it is important to stand in the gap for those who are in such a place today.  None of us should feel that there is something missing in our faith in God when we cannot find the words to pray.  Sometimes the storm is so dark, we cannot even see enough ahead to call out the name of God.  Most all of us have been there.  In such moments the community does our praying and we are somehow lifted up because of it.    

As one who has been lifted up time and time again by the prayers of others, I can do naught else but pray for those who are now overcome by the uncertainty which stretches before them.  It is no trivial matter to tell someone we will pray for them.  If we say we will do so, it becomes a sacred and binding responsiblity on our life.  Being careless is letting down those who are counting on us.  The one thing which might be the difference in a sufferer being able to make it tomorrow is our praying.  We must not let them down.