And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. (Ephesians 6:18)

 

How are you feeling about the world today? I don’t mean the baby-quail-trailing-around-your-backyard, blue-sky, branches-dancing-in-the-breeze world. I’m talking about the peopled world. Your peopled world.

The authors you read, the singers you listen to, the influencers you follow, the leaders you voted for (or didn’t vote for).

Your co-workers, church family, neighbors, friends, friends of friends.

The people you live with or used to live with, and the more distant ones you reunite with from time to time.

How is that world going for you?

I ask because, in my peopled world, I’ve noticed a lot of conflict buzzing around lately. A lot of harsh and hopeless words. Friendship-splitting, marriage-ending, church-leaving words. People falling short, turning away, shutting down.

And these are people who love God and bear the name of Christ. People who, it seems, should be able to work through and forgive misunderstandings. Work through to peace and reconciliation. People who are not strangers to these words from Colossians 3—

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts since as members of one body you are called to peace.

It sounds good, but it can be oh-so hard to do.

This kind of escalating conflict has happened to all of us, hasn’t it? Don’t we all bear the scars of torn-away relationships? Don’t we all have a sad story or two about a Christian friend, co-worker, or church acquaintance who is no longer someone we would choose to eat lunch with? We can get to the point where we don’t even want to think about them at all.

Though, sometimes, we suspect we maybe should pray for them. (It’s hard to read our Bibles and not suspect that. Every once in a while, at least.)

But even to pray for that person feels pointless. And risky. Feels like a pain-point of connection that will only keep us caring. Keep us hurting.

Anger is easier than prayer sometimes.

And that also goes for those who aren’t so close to us. We all know stories of pastors, speakers, authors, actors, and singers who slipped up or gave up or in some other way failed to live up to the hopes and expectations of their admiring fans.

Those who once inspired and encouraged us fall hard, sometimes. You can probably think of one or two right now with a sad sort of pain in your chest. I know I can. It’s the kind of fall that takes with it all the good hope and encouragement we once found through the things that person said, sang, or did.

So, what I really want to know is this. Do you pray for them?

Because, when your heart is in a tangle, as nice, and right, and Christian as it sounds to pray for the ones who tangled it, I find it’s often the last thing most of us want to do. The last thing anyone wants to be told they should do.

This isn’t my usual kind of blog post, I know. You may wonder where I’m going with this. I usually focus on stories, right?

Well, here’s where I’m going.

We live in stories.

Every one of us.

Family stories. Work stories. Salvation stories. Political stories. Marriage and friendship stories. Tragedy and recovery stories. And some of those turn into Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter stories.

And however things may look, there is always more to the story.

I believe prayer is a powerful way of entering the stories of others. A thing that, even if it doesn’t change the way the story goes, can most certainly change the way we perceive the story and those who are living in it. And that in itself is a change.

It’s a way of stopping and noticing stories everywhere and saying, “However things may look, this present moment is not the whole story nor the end of it.” I find it’s a way of aligning with the Writer of all stories. A way of playing a part in the furthering of His will and His Kingdom even now. Not by judging, complaining, fearing or manipulating, but by prayers that teach me to watch with interest and hope, and plant in me a growing willingness to see things from a heavenly perspective.

I believe it’s important for God’s people to pray for those who are in positions to influence others. I’m not alone in that. I’ve heard more than one speaker encourage Christian writers like me to prioritize building a prayer team over building a platform because, whether a person serves many or few, there’s an enemy who prowls around like a roaring lion.

The most talented singers, speakers, actors, writers, preachers, and teachers can and do inspire dangerous levels of admiration that no human can live up to. So, even though your favorites might look like they have it all together, that could crash in a flash of overtired rudeness or misdirected friendliness. All the good those people are doing today could be dismantled by family drama or sudden success and the sneaky tendrils of pride that goeth before a fall.

Perhaps, as you read this, you are thinking of your pastor or Ann Voskamp or Amy Grant or the woman who runs the crisis pregnancy center or a teacher in the Christian school or Co-op your child or grandchild attends. Or perhaps, you are in a position of Christian influence or leadership yourself and God is stirring your heart to the idea that you should maybe ask a few folks to form a prayer team for you.

If you do have someone in mind, I’d like to encourage you to contact them to see if they have a prayer team you can join. And if they don’t, you could perhaps offer start a prayer team for them.

If you aren’t sure how to pray for a person of influence, here’s a prayer I found and adapted as a lovely way to lift someone and their ministry up to God:

Almighty and Eternal God, so draw (name’s) heart to you, so guide her mind, so fill her imagination, so control her will that she may be wholly Yours–utterly dedicated to You. Then use her, I pray, by Your will, and always for Your glory and the welfare of Your people.

I hope we are all faithful to pray for those who live with us and church with us and cross our paths in other ways. But I think it is right that we should also do the battling work of prayer that serves as Aaron and Hur did when holding up the arms of Moses during battle. (Exodus 17:8-13)

And if God does put someone specific on your heart to do this for, or moves you to form a prayer team for your own work, would you mind mentioning that in the comments? I think it would be a wonderful encouragement to many (including me).