Who Do You Want Praying For You?

Who Do You Want Praying For You?

Scripture: Mark 11:22-24; James 5:13-16; Proverbs 18:21

The title of my message this morning is “Who Do You Want Praying For You?” Now before I give you any context whatsoever, I want to ask you a question: “If you were in need of prayer, who would you go to first, your pastor or Sis. Betsy, one of the regular members of the Church?” Please write your answer down. Now depending on your relationship with your pastor, many people would go to their pastor first for prayer because of the perceived notion that the pastor, based on his/her position within the Church, can get a prayer through if no one else can. But as you listen to the message this morning, I want you to listen for some criteria that should be considered when you decide ask someone to pray for you in a time of need.

Jesus said the following in Mark 11:22-24, “(22) So Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Have faith in God. (23) For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain,’ ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. (24) Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” Jesus told us to have faith in God so that when we pray we have the confidence to believe in that prayer leading to our prayers being answers. He actually took it further than just praying; He said that based on our faith in God, we can speak to mountains and have them removed. Now I recognize that we are not at this point in our relationship with God, but doesn’t it make you wonder what could be? Doesn’t it make you wonder why some of your prayers are being answers and why some are not? Could it be that we are praying and saying all the right words, but we do not truly believe God for an answer?

Last week my wife asked me to remove a sconce globe from the lights above our fireplace so she could clean them. I removed the first one with no problem. But when I got to the second one it started to turn but then it got stuck. No matter how hard I tried to turn it, it would not move. I was growing frustrated and you know what happens when we grow frustrated when doing something. We begin to complain to ourselves about why we are doing it in the first place. Then we start thinking, if whatever it is we are attempting to do, does it really need to be done in the first place. I had these thoughts running through my mind as I also contemplated what would happen if I turned too hard and broke it. Finally I stopped, took a deep breath and prayed. Yes, I stopped and prayed and asked God to show me and help me remove the sconce. After I prayed I tried again and it did not move. Immediately the thought entered my mind that the prayer did not work, but I rejected it. I said out loud, Father I believe you. Immediately I tried again and it came off without a problem. This was something that was simple, but it showed me how easy it is to pray about something and not expect anything to change. We must stop praying prayers just to get the words out there – we must do exactly what Jesus said – have faith in God, believe and don’t doubt, and then see our prayers answered. The people you have praying for you, do they meet these criteria? When you are praying for yourself and for others, do you meet these criteria?

There was a survey that I read by Pew Research several years ago that found that less than 40% of Christians pray daily – and that include all types of prayer. Of those surveyed, those between the ages of 30-49 had the highest percentage of respondents who prayed daily at 34%. What caught my attention is the fact that, as people gained more education, they prayed less. Forty-three percent of those with a high school education or less prayed daily versus only nine percent of those with a post-graduate degree. Those with some college or with a college degree fell between these two (35% and 15% respectively.) What we are seeing being played out in the world today is indicative of people who no longer see the need for prayer, or it could be that they do not believe God plays a role in their lives. I may be naïve, but if we want to see anything change in this world or more specifically, in our lives, it begins with understanding what God’s Word says and our prayers. You see, the most powerful prayers that we can pray are those based on what we know are promised to us in the Word of God. But even if you do not know a lot of the Word, prayer should still be a major part of your life on a daily basis.