Prayer is personal, but why do we feel moved to pray with others?
On my Super Shuttle ride to the San Francisco Airport, I struck up a conversation with a woman sitting next to me.
I noticed the papers she held in her hand. They were questions from a Bible Study guide. I asked her what it was that drew her to spend time reading the Bible. I was intrigued by what she said.
I want to learn more about prayer.
Oh? I quietly commented, asking for more with my eyes.
Well, I’m thankful nothing bad has really happened in my life. No disease. You know, nothing awful like that…But, I feel I want to learn how to pray.
She wasn’t telling me much, but a person who wants to pray must want something from God.
I smiled and paused a bit to think of what to say.
You know, we’re all wounded in some way. It doesn’t have to be some tragic thing that happens to us. I think the wounds we all carry inside can prompt us to pray.
As she thought for a moment, I saw her face soften and her chin dip down.
When I was thirty, something did happen to me. I had a stillborn child and…
I don’t know. How can get Him to answer my prayers?
Should I get more people to pray with me? Will He listen to me then?
There were a thousand things I wanted to say to her. But, the shuttle had taken a turn for the exit. We were at the airport. I only had a few minutes left.
Why Pray With Others
Here’s what I shared with her:
We pray with others, so that when we start to doubt whether God heard us, we can be assured we didn’t just imagine it. We really did pray.
We pray in community because the hardest things in life aren’t answered right away.
Those are the times when the answers God gives are life changes. And those don’t happen overnight.
Because when things are at their worst, we won’t want to pray. We don’t even know how to pray.
That is when it’s good to have someone we can go to.
Those are the times we pray by allowing others pray for us.
I used to do all of my heart prayers alone. Until I learned I didn’t need to be.
It may be a season God is bringing some life changes to you. To make this journey, you will need others to hold onto, real people who can say —
You’re going to be okay.
And on the days you’re not, I will be here to pray with you.
I’ve Found It Helpful
Maybe you’ve been in some awkward prayer situations like me. People have tried to fix you or given you advice when all you wanted was just be understood and heard. It can be frustrating.
I’ve found it helpful to express specifically what I’m asking when I invite someone to get together and pray with me.
I say something like this —
“I was wondering if you’d like to pray together. I’m not looking for advice or even to have my problems fixed. But, someone to just pray with as I go through this transition/problem/season of my life.”
I also suggest to meet for x weeks/months. It frees the person from feeling they are locked into an open ended commitment. So, if it’s not clicking, it’s easier to let that time end. If it’s something that’s working out, then I’ll ask if she’s interested in continuing.
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galations 6:2
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Do you find it easy or hard to pray with others?
What has encouraged you in your prayer life?
Pull up a chair. I love company and enjoy hearing your thoughts. Click to share a comment.
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11 Comments
This is hard. I have not done this that often. I have gone to my Care Pastor and asked him to pray when I am in difficult position and in need of prayer.
I feel totally inadequate in praying with and for others. But I do it anyways. I know it’s not about me and that God responds to a sincere heart, no matter how the words tumble out.
Finding friends to pray for a specific need is tricky for me. As the pastor’s wife, I can’t share most of my deepest needs with my friends at church or even in my homeschooling community.
I do have three friends who pray FOR me, but we only connect thru email. One is in California, one in Maine and another is in Texas. They are my undercover intercessors and I value them greatly.
So your post this morning makes me wonder who I have that I could go to in person for real-time-live-in-action prayer. Do you have friends you can trust to hold the deep stuff? To pray for the situations that really can’t be shared with just anyone? I would love to have a friend like that….
mmmmm….so sweet.
i LOVE praying! alone, together, on my knees, or in a large group…with words in my heart or floating around my ears – my own or others…love to be a part of it….even in the silences of it…
my comments turned into a blog – so i’m going to take it up at http://marinaskitchentable.blogspot.com and finish it there…i AM a prayer warrior…
thanks for sharing Bonnie…
Ay yay ya yay! GREAT thoughts on praying with others. Definitely sharing this …
I am completely intimidated to pray aloud, especially for others. The words won’t come out but the thoughts are there. That being said, I so truly want to overcome this fear and I will.
I know first hand the effect that having someone pray with you, for you. There have been so many times over the past journey I’ve been on that I simply did not know what or how to pray. I have a friend who has been there, continues to be there to pray with me. The last time we met to pray she asked me to pray also. I was scared to death! DUMB!!! I’ve been meeting with her for 4 years now and she is the safest person to me and she is the best person for me to start with and so I did.
I’m not sure where God is taking me in this journey but I’ve learned that he does hear me each and everytime I come to him. Even when I say to him-‘God, I don’t know what to say, please pray for me’ and He does.
lkh
So so SO good Ms Barista 🙂 Thank you.
When I pray for others, I feel like there’s something that’s coming from within and just wants to continue. I’m glad that we often have the opportunity of coming into groups and praying for the people around us. It definitely helps me to grow and when I reach those times when I can’t voice out things for myself in prayer, it’s comforting to know that there are people around me who care and are praying for me.
That spoke straight to my heart today Miss Bonnie 🙂 thank you for sharing!
I found it hard to pray with others earlier on. I was young, quiet, introverted. They all seemed to feel I needed to be told what to do and how to do it. All, I wanted was the support. I cut off praying in groups or with others.
People with a heart connected to God have helped me get over that. People who don’t need to know all the details and pray anyway. People who when they do know all the details love me anyway. I’m learning to give that away to others.
This was my year to reach out for prayer. Bonnie, you’re a good example of Ps 16 ~ God chosen lives that surround and make splendid friends. The kind who pray for us here, know the details, and loves us anyway.
A friend and I meet weekly to talk and to pray together. We both leave feeling “lighter”. We have shared our burdens with each other and given them to Jesus. I really miss it when our schedules force us to take a week off. This is the body of Christ in action–the way He planned it to be!
I definitely prefer to pray by myself. However, I am mindful of the words that Jesus said, about two or three gathered together and Him being in their midst. That’s why I deliberately do not avoid praying with others.