Tag: <span>pray</span>

Pray on-the-Spot

One of the most loving and powerful things we can do for people is pray for them. James wrote, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16) And praying for someone on-the-spot intensifies our love and the power of praying for others in their presence.

I learned how to pray for others on-the-spot from my dad. Whenever someone voiced a concern, a challenge they were facing, a need, or a struggle, my dad would ask, “May I pray for you right now?” And then he would put a hand on their shoulder and pray for them.

Many times, I witnessed how moved and grateful that person was by my dad’s love and concern. Praying on-the-spot is 100 times better than the oft-repeated line, “I’ll be praying for you.”

But in order to practice the skill of praying for others on-the-spot, we need to hone one other skill—that of being a good listener.

When people are sharing with us about their lives, sometimes it’s easy to tune them out, especially if it’s someone who is prone to complaining or simply likes to talk a lot about their issues. But we need to really listen to people—not just to their words, but to the emotions behind them.

Probably in most cases that call for praying on-the-spot, the person talking to us is not asking for prayer. That doesn’t matter. Maybe a parent is distressed about their adult son’s sinful behavior. We can ask, “May I pray for you about your son right now?”

Perhaps a college student is stressed about an upcoming exam. Simply ask, “Would it be okay if I pray for you right now?”

Maybe a grandparent is concerned about a granddaughter with a high fever. Enter into their concern and suggest, “Let’s pray for your little granddaughter right now.”

I cannot stress enough how grateful and even pleasantly shocked people are when you pray for them on the spot! Many individuals with whom I’ve prayed, have tears welling up in their eyes and thank me profusely.

I pass on the practice of praying on the spot to the men I meet with and now they pray with me on-the-spot! Also, in our mixed-gender small group we practice this skill. Instead of praying for all the requests at once where they tend to get bunched together or even forgotten, we pray for requests on-the-spot as they surface.

I challenge you to build this habit into your life. Listen intently to people around you—whether they already know Jesus or not. When your ears perk up with something that warrants praying for, ask them, “May I pray for you right now?” Then, if appropriate, place on hand on their shoulder and pray a short prayer focused on their need.

From now on, seek to pray for others on-the-spot!

God Will Supply All Your Needs

by Rob Fischer ·

In 1975, I had just received my honorable discharge from the US Army. Linda and I moved to Spokane, WA, with the intent to attend Bible college there. Linda was seven months pregnant. When we arrived in Spokane, we knew no one—not a soul.

We had saved enough money for our damage deposit and first-month’s rent and moved into a one-bedroom apartment. But several things challenged our financial situation.

First, we found a doctor for Linda, but he discovered that she had preeclampsia, a condition that could have jeopardized the life of both the baby and her. The doctor confined her to bed for the duration of her pregnancy, threatening hospitalization if her condition worsened.

Second, the transmission went out on our car, so we had to have that repaired.

Third, although I was eligible for GI Bill benefits to pay for college, the college God had led us to was so new that they had not yet received authorization by the Veteran’s Administration to receive funds through the GI Bill. We wondered what God was up to.

Finally, I could not find a job! I applied everywhere I could think of, but to no avail. Every day I went out looking for work but could find nothing. Still, I kept looking.

Very quickly, our finances got tight! We had no credit cards, so that option was unavailable to us. (Nor would any bank have given us a credit card at the time.)

All the while, we were praying for God’s provision for all these needs and He began providing in some most remarkable ways. Let me share just two of those with you.

After visiting the doctor, we received a bill in the mail for $256.63. (This amount was more than our monthly rent.) We had no health insurance, so I sat on the bed with Linda. We spread the bill out on the bed and prayed, asking God to provide.

The next day, we received an envelope in the mail. The only thing in it was an anonymous cashier’s check written to us in the amount of $256.63! This was the exact amount we owed! We were blown away! We thanked God for His amazing provision and paid the doctor bill in full. To this day, we have no idea who sent us the check. No one else but the doctor knew about the bill or the amount.

A week or two later, I was still actively seeking work every day. That was my full-time job. Meanwhile, Linda’s doctor had written a prescription for her that we needed to have filled but had no money. Again, we prayed together for the Lord’s provision.

We ended our prayer together and I sensed the Holy Spirit telling me to trust Him and drive to the store to fill the prescription. I told this to Linda, and she asked me how I expected to pay for it. I said, “Honey, I don’t know, but I sense God telling me to go.”

So, I drove to the drugstore and pulled into the parking lot. I opened the car door and put my left foot on the ground to get out. And there on the pavement was a pile of change! So much change, in fact, that it looked like someone had emptied their piggybank there! My heart leapt as I gathered all the coins and stuffed them in my pocket.

With a sense of joyful expectation, I went into the drugstore and asked the pharmacist to please fill Linda’s prescription. And the coins from the parking lot more than covered the cost!

The Apostle Paul, writing to the Philippians, encouraged them, “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

Over the 45 years we’ve been married, Linda and I have experienced countless instances of God’s gracious provision in our lives—financially and in many other ways. We’ve discovered that He rarely provides in the same way. And He often provides in ways that surprise us, amaze us, and sometimes even confound us.

Whatever your present need is, trust the Lord with it and watch Him provide. I love Matthew 7:11, where Jesus said, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

How to Pray with Others

by Rob Fischer ·

I drove home from a prayer meeting angry and frustrated, but I couldn’t understand why I was so angry. I felt guilty for even harboring such emotions. Why should a prayer meeting upset me so? All the way home, I struggled with the Lord about it and continued to wrestle with it for several months.

Then, through an experience where I learned how to pray with others, it finally dawned on me why I had been so angry and frustrated coming out of that prayer meeting.

Prayer is a wonderful privilege! To think that the God of the universe is interested in you and me and the details of our lives. He invites us to “cast all our cares on Him” (1 Peter 5:7). And we can go to Him in prayer anytime, anywhere, about anything. Our Heavenly Father delights in hearing our prayers.

Through prayer we can worship Him, praise Him, make requests of Him, talk things over with Him, etc. In short, prayer is a two-way conversation with God.

But we often treat prayer as a one-way monologue, as in: I pray, God listens. In prayer, however, we must learn to listen to the Holy Spirit’s promptings to know how to pray and what to pray for. Prayer should include listening like this and not merely talking. The Lord said, “Be still and know that I am God.” This aspect of prayer is where we can get into trouble when we pray with others.

The Conversation Hog

Have you ever walked up to a small cluster of people at a party or an event only to discover that one person is doing all the talking and everyone else is just standing there? The person talking is so intent on what they’re saying that they go on and on without letting anyone else enter the conversation.

Usually, in a situation like that, we quickly excuse ourselves and go off to find a more open group in which we can participate. We seek conversation—a two-way verbal interchange between two or more people.

In that fateful prayer meeting above, two individuals droned on and on that day without thought for anyone else present. We weren’t praying together. There was no conversation. Those two individuals each delivered their own separate very lengthy monologues, something they might as well have done alone. They certainly didn’t need or include the rest of us. I finally understood why their behavior had frustrated me so!

In their defense, I don’t think those two long-winded individuals knew any better. They were probably just following the example of others they had heard pray and thought this is the way it’s done. This is precisely why it’s so important that we provide a great example in prayer for others.

Compare group prayer with the proper etiquette for a friendly conversation:

No one hogs the conversation
Everyone can participate
Stay with the topic until it’s time to move on
We don’t interrupt each other
We listen to each other and ensure understanding
Keep our remarks short

Of all the conversations we engage in, prayer with others should exemplify those traits best. But when we neglect those traits, we turn what’s meant to be a holy conversation between God’s people and Him into something ugly. That’s why I was so angry when I left that prayer meeting that day.

I think our failure to pray well with each other explains why some find it so difficult to pray aloud with others. Who can compete with a 20-minute prayer monologue? Especially if they’re using high-sounding Christianese.

But when we pray together, deferring to one another, listening to each other, staying on topic, and keeping our prayers short, prayer with others can be a truly wonderful, edifying and God-honoring experience.

A few months after I left that prayer meeting, someone shared these simple, constructive prayer guidelines with me. Now I use these guidelines whenever I pray with others and encourage others to do the same:

Pray short, sentence prayers (no long-winded monologues!)
Keep prayers vertical (directed toward God, not others)
Piggyback on each other’s prayers and stay on one topic until the Holy Spirit moves you on
Embrace silence as an opportunity to listen to the Holy Spirit or transition to a new topic
Listen to the Holy Spirit and to each other
Believe the best of each other

Using these prayer guidelines when praying with others makes prayer a delight. These guidelines facilitate a shared prayer experience as you approach the Lord with one mind, heart, and Spirit.

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