Saying and Meaning the Words I Will Pray for You

We have all been on the receiving end of the statement I am praying or I will pray for you when we have asked someone to pray for us. If you are like me, you have probably even wondered if that someone really will pray.

Saying and Meaning I Will Pray for You

When I was teaching school I had a wonderful friend who was such an inspiration to me.  Any time she was asked to pray for someone, she stopped what she was doing and prayed right then. Several years ago, I stumbled across a blog post about praying for people. The author wrote about using those statements and not allowing the person asking for prayer to see or hear us pray for them. It was then when I realized what my school teacher friend did. I also knew I was one who made the statement and quietly prayed a short prayer and that was it. I also realized I was one who made the statement and never said a prayer for whatever reason; such a sad confession.

Three things we can gather from saying and meaning I will pray for you:

Encouragement

- we are an encouragement to the other person. But we can also receive encouragement through the act of praying.

Faith Building

- it is an honor to pray for others. Watching and praying through their situation and seeing how God works through prayer will help build our own faith.

Closeness

- when we allow the other person hear us pray for their need, we are drawn closer together. This closeness can bring about a prayer partner relationship for both parties. There could very well come a time when we are going to need the closeness of a prayer partner.

Since I read that blog post, I try to make sure I don't simply say I'm praying for you. Instead, I stop and say a prayer right then, or if the request is being made over the internet, I type out my prayer so it can be read by the other person. If it is an online request and I can't take the time right then and type the prayer out, I don't say anything to them about me praying. I just do it because the Lord knows and hears.

People want to hear us pray for their request. They want to know we are praying when we say we will. We need to be a trustworthy source of praying when we are asked to pray.

I do not want to allow life to get in the way of me telling someone I'm going to pray for them and then not follow through with it. Of  all the things I can say I'm going to do and NOT do it, I don't want praying for someone to be one of those things.

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men. I Timothy 2:1