“You also must help us by prayer . . .” (2 Cor. 1:11).
I woke up this morning thinking about my dad and the heart procedure he would undergo this morning. Yesterday our extended family had participated in a day of prayer and fasting for my father, for which we were truly grateful. But with his actual procedure taking place this morning, I wanted more people to pray.
So I logged onto Facebook to get the word out. I saw that my brother had already beaten me to it, so I simply shared his post and reinforced it with one comment: “Friends, please pray for my dad.”
Within the first couple of hours I had already received nearly a hundred responses from my friends. A quick scan of their names reminded me of how much God has blessed me with a wide circle of friends:
Church friends (past and present)
High school friends
College friends
Seminary friends
Missionary friends
Pastor friends
Professional friends
Neighbor friends
The list goes on. Eleanor Roosevelt observed, “Many people will walk in and out of your life. But only true friends leave footprints in your heart.”
In some cases, they leave knee prints. Such are my friends that pray for me.
Everyone needs prayer. Even the best of Christians. Take the apostle Paul, for instance. The Bible verse posted at the top came from Paul’s pen. He wrote to fellow believers, “You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted to us through the prayers of many” (2 Cor. 1:11).
Paul had many friends who prayed for him because he was always praying for them (see Eph. 1:15-23; 3:14-21; Phil. 1:9-11; Col. 1:3-14; 2 Tim. 1:3 and others). Because Paul’s prayers are actually the words of Scripture, they serve as a wonderful model for us as we pray for our friends.
But that’s a topic for another time. Today I simply want to thank God for my praying friends.
If you’re reading this post, you’re probably one of them.
I thank God for you!