Praying Friends

Everyone needs to have praying friends. It’s a desire everyone should have. There isn’t anything like a friend who prays for you. Or do they really pray? Someone once said, when black people say they will pray for you, that was the prayer.

We all have friends who say they’re praying for us. It’s hard to judge who actually prays and who doesn’t. When we go through challenges or when our friends go through challenges, do we really pray or do we just secretly hope that everything turns out well while we face our own battles.

Sometimes we wish our friends well, but praying for them and wishing them well are two different things. Wishing your friend well will not turn the situation for their good. Praying will. Prayer can turn what would have been a bad outcome into a good one.

I am reminded of the story of James and Peter. The king had captured James and put him in prison. I’m very sure he asked his friends and the church to pray. They probably wished him well. They knew he was a servant of God and expected God to just show up on his behalf. They probably just said, “Don’t worry. God will sort you out. We’ve seen how dedicated you are.”

“It’s amazing how we take serious issues for granted. We think God is a machine. The Bible says we do not receive because we do not ask.”

Wishing him well didn’t rescue him and deliver him from the king. Scripture records no concerted prayer for James, and the worst happened. Did God want him to die? Was it his time to die? No! A thousand times No! I believe if earnest prayer had been made for him, he would have been delivered.

We see our friends go through challenging times and face a negative result and wonder why God would let his servant be battered with so much failure? Well, it’s because we weren’t actually praying for them. We were wishing them well and hoping everything would be fine.

Some Christians use statements in such situations that are nothing short of embarrassing. Some say “It’s God’s will”, “What will be will be”. No. It wasn’t God’s will for James to die. Most of the negative things that happen to us on earth aren’t the will of God. With a little more prayer, it probably would have turned out positive.

“Don’t just wish your friends well. Pray them well.”

As for those who say “What will be will be”, what will be will only be if you pray it into being. God invites us to ask and expects us to pray.

I don’t tell my friends I’m praying for them anymore. I just do it, consciously and specifically.

Prayer isn’t something we should bluff about. It’s serious business. It can save a life. It can save a destiny. It can take a man from zero to hero.

I’ve often said that the best gift you can give to your friend is to desperately pray for them.