Praying With Others

Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.  The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.- James 5:16

There is something so special about praying for someone WITH that someone.  And there is something so special about being the someone being prayed for.  I am privileged to belong to a church that does this on a regular basis.  If someone is in need of prayer, a couple (or several) people will gather, place hands on that person and pray aloud.

Yesterday, a couple of us prayed with a friend who is concerned about an up-coming doctor's appointment.  We could feel God's power flowing around us and whether or not she receives the kind of healing that our human understanding hopes for, we know God heard our prayers and I think our friend was able to put some of her worries in Christ's hands.

Praying with and for others is healing on so many levels!  It creates an intimacy between those praying, and there just is not enough intimacy between people anymore... even in our churches.  

It reassures us of the sovereignty, love and grace of God, simply because we know - as scripture reminds us - is that where two or  three are gathered, Christ is in our midst.  And we FEEL that presence... sometimes with a soft, tingly sensation within us and sometimes in an almost heart-pounding powerful way. 

It reminds us that prayer IS powerful and effective.  We feel the power as we pray.  Sometimes the effectiveness is immediately apparent and sometimes it is not until the crisis works itself to the end that we see God's "yes" to our heart's real prayer of God's good and perfect will for our friend.

If you don't do this kind of prayer very often, the next time someone asks you to pray for them... do it right then and there WITH them.  I promise you, you will be so blessed!

Father,

You have given us this incredible privilege to communicate with you anywhere and anytime with anybody.  Help us to make full use of it.  Help us to overcome our prayer shyness and just do it.  Amen.

Joys:  Special prayer with friends; baby Reid's baptism; light traffic taking Richard to the airport this morning.