“I’ll
pray for you.”
Yesterday, I considered the statement “I’ll pray for you.”
We say it. Yet too frequently we don’t follow through. I suggested that we make
and then break this commitment for a variety of reasons: perhaps the words were
never truly meant; perhaps it was merely the platitude we felt we should say; perhaps
it was well intentioned but quickly forgotten by the press of other things;
perhaps we simply never have put a plan in effect to pray for these things.
Today, I would like to offer a few suggestions for how you
might (for how I might) get better at this, so that my ‘yes’ will be ‘yes’ when
I say, “I’ll pray for you.”
Pray in the moment.
When someone comes to you with a prayer request, or when someone is relating
their circumstances and you feel that this is something that should be prayed
for, pray. Just pray. Rather than offering a commitment to prayer in the
future, pray at that very time. In most (all?) circumstances where you would
feel it appropriate to say, “I’ll pray for you,” it would also be appropriate
to pray immediately. If the person sharing the prayer concern is unable to pray
at the time, or uncomfortable with it, then pray immediately after the conversation.
So, instead of “I’ll pray for you,” try out the phrase, “Let’s pray about this
right now.”
Commit to praying for
a specific time. When you tell someone “I’ll pray for you,” this is often
an open-ended statement. When will you pray? How much will you pray? How often
will you pray? How many times will you pray? None of these are specified or in
any way clear. Wouldn’t it be better to commit to praying for a specific period
of time? “I’ll pray for you this week.” “I’ll pray for you these next few days.”
Even if you don’t divulge the specifics to the individual, but keep the time
limit to yourself, by the very act of setting a specific time on it you are
more likely to do it.
Commit to praying at a
specific time. This works best if the prayer request is time specific or if
you have a regularly scheduled prayer time, whether alone or with others. When
the request is time specific (e.g. a surgery on Thursday), then you can commit
to praying on that Thursday. Once again, the more specific you are in your
commitment, the more likely you are to follow through. Or, also, if you have a
time regularly set aside for prayer, then you can commit “I’ll pray for that at
the prayer meeting on Wednesday.”
Use technology to your
advantage. If you use a digital calendar, or a task management software,
you can set up reminders for yourself. I’m new at this, and trying to figure
out what the best way will be for me, but I know that these tools can be used
for good. If you have advice, let me know.
Encourage people when
you pray. Instead of offering the encouragement that you will pray,
especially if your follow through is limited like most of us, encourage people when
you pray for them. If someone has come to you with a request on a Sunday, and
you pray about it on Wednesday, consider sending them a text message, or a Facebook
message, or something else. Don’t feel the need to do this with everyone, or
every time you pray, but on occasion simply tell people “I prayed for you
today.” The specificity of the comment adds weight and encouragement.
What other ways can we get better at following through on
our prayer commitments? Do you have any suggestions or strategies?
