8 January 2010
Lord, teach us to pray (Part XII)
Posted by admin1 under: Spiritual Growth .
And Isaac intreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived (Genesis 25:21).
How important is praying for others? It is as important as praying for ourselves. Jesus taught us to love one another and to be selfless. He taught us to be inclusive of others in our prayers, and pray thus: “Our Father; give us, forgive us, lead us not” and so on instead of just mentioning ourselves only when we pray. There are moments in our lives where and when we cannot pray for ourselves, “we know not what we should pray for as we ought” (Romans 8:26). Whilst our own prayers count, the prayers we make for others and those made for us count as much. That is why God was intreated by the prayer of Isaac Rebecca his wife.
The Children of Israel made a golden calf and worshipped it. This angered the Lord. God was ready to destroy Israel and make a new nation out of Moses. But Moses prayed for Israel, “And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people” (Exodus 32:14). God hears our prayers, he also hears prayers made on our behalf by others.
“Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren” (Luke 22: 3132). This proves once again the importance of us praying one for another as Jesus prayed for Simon Peter. Sometimes we cannot pray for ourselves because we are deep in sin, sometimes because we are in danger. Whatever the situation or the infirmity, we should always include others in our prayers. Our prayers count as much as the prayers made on our behalf.
The Bible teaches us to love one another and to pray for one another “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much (James 5:16).
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