I have a prayer list. I keep it on my cell phone. It’s a couple of pages long. I try to go through it every day………though some days I miss. This list is a bunch of requests. It is separate from my prayers of praise and thanks. It amounts to a long list of things that a long list of people need. There are people on the list who are family and friends. There are people on it who know somebody that I know. There are also people on it that I don’t even recognize……….I can’t recall how they got there. Many of these are people are friends of friends of friends.
I get up early and I pray for these people. And yet, sometimes, it gets a little mechanical. I wonder…….am I just reading a list? Sometimes it almost feels like work……..like a chore. Reading the Bible is easy. Prayers of praise are easy. Going down a long list of needs is harder.
And yet, the list is important. Before I even open my mouth, God knows every single item on my prayer list. I’m not telling him anything new…….I’m not telling him anything that he doesn’t already know. I’m not asking him for anything that he doesn’t care deeply about. I am not bringing God up to speed on conditions in his creation.
So……..what in the world am I doing?
The prayer list has two purposes.
The first is that it reminds me that I am my brother’s keeper. I am required to care for and look after my fellow man. I am required to care for those who care for me. But……..I am also required to care for those who despise me……..those who hurt me. And this is not easy. This is something that I have to be reminded of……..every day.
The second purpose is a little harder to get a fix on. If my prayer list is not uploading data to God……..then what am I communicating when I work my way through it?
I need to go back in my life to explain this. Our relationship with our parents is a reflection of our relationship with God. Often, to understand God, we can get a clue by understanding our relationship with our parents. My father died when I was in high school. My most cherished memory of my Dad was one night, standing by the washing machine in the basement. We talked……..it was nothing important…….small talk. We didn’t transmit any valuable information. What we were doing was sharing time. We were giving each other a little bit of ourselves……..bonding. And that is the second reason for the prayer list. It is a chance to spend time with your father……to share with him the things that are important to you………to bond.
I encourage you to keep a prayer list.
I encourage you to spend time sharing it with God…….every day.
If it seems a bit stale……don’t worry.
If you forget somebody……don’t sweat it.
God already knows every single item on your list.
He just wants to hear from you.
He just wants you to share a little bit of yourself with him.
It’s as close to a hug as you can get.
‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’
God, NIV
do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Paul, NIV
The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works.
The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
David, NIV