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Prayer Requests

           With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of His calling, and that by His power He may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.  (II Thessalonians 1:11-12)

          Ever wonder what to pray for someone? Do we all have some standard “and God bless” requests? There’s nothing wrong with the God bless prayers. They’re good prayers, but sometimes I feel that sort of prayer becomes thin and weak as I pray it for person or group after group. At the same time, I feel invasive if I start barging into someone’s life, asking them to lay bare their souls so that I can pray for their “real” needs. I know when someone asks for prayer for a third party – and another person asks for details that weren’t given, I get irritated. A prayer request isn’t meant to be an opportunity for gossips to give out or collect material for their grist mills.

          Today’s passage includes three good options that run between the vague and the nitty-gritty, invasive details. The first is that God may count the person you’re praying for worthy of His calling. This is a great place to start if someone is either not yet saved or is backslidden. It’s a good prayer for everyone else, as well, because many of us know we aren’t worthy. There’s no one out there who is incapable of proving their unworthiness.

          The second prayer is that by His power, God may fulfill their every good purpose and every act prompted by faith. Can you imagine? I can’t, but that just means I need prayer. God fulfilling your every good purpose? God fulfilling every act you make that is prompted by faith? Wow. Of course, part of the problem here is that we tend to think of “fulfilling every good purpose” and “fulfilling every act” in terms of big things, while God may see them as things we hardly notice.

          The third prayer is that the name of the Lord Jesus would be glorified in them, and they in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, we tend to think of glory as big things, but someone can go away glorifying the Lord without our ever knowing. They may not realize they’re glorifying Him as they simply respond with gratitude, awe, or longing without saying a word to us or giving us a smile. 

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