30 Dear brothers and sisters, I urge you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to join in my struggle by praying to God for me. Do this because of your love for me, given to you by the Holy Spirit. 31 Pray that I will be rescued from those in Judea who refuse to obey God. Pray also that the believers there will be willing to accept the donation I am taking to Jerusalem. 32 Then, by the will of God, I will be able to come to you with a joyful heart, and we will be an encouragement to each other.
33 And now may God, who gives us his peace, be with you all. Amen.
Pray For Me
Do you ever ask others to pray for you? I know some people who seem to ask for prayer about every single little thing. If I’m honest, sometimes I get tired of hearing them when we ask for prayer requests. There are some weeks when I wonder if they ever have anything they want to thank God for, or are the always just asking for something else.
But there are others who seem to never ask others to join them in prayer. And I know why many of people are like this, because I can be guilty of it.
Pride. Some people don’t ask others to pray for them because in asking, we think we are admitting to being weak and in need. We can handle it on our own so we don’t bother inviting others to join us in praying for a need. It’s pride. And in the end, we miss out as a result.
Jesus said that when two or three agree together on something, it will be done (Matthew 18:19-20). And yet, we remain silent. We go at it alone. And we miss out on a possible blessing.
If you’re struggling with something, I encourage you: ask others to pray with you.
My prayer: Lord, I know that sometimes my pride can get in the way of me asking. When I’m tired or discouraged, I often carry that alone. I don’t invite others to carry my burdens with me. It really is pride. Forgive me. I know that you purpose to work through community, and when I carry my cares alone, I turn my back on the very reason for that community. Perhaps I need to ask others to pray for me to break that pride. Amen.
Until tomorrow
