Praying for Others

There have been many times in my life, and there will be many more again, when I have either been asked to pray for others, or I wanted to pray for others. This often puts me in a spot in two different ways. First, I must remember to pray for them, and then I must pray for the right results.

Remembering to pray for someone else can be difficult. Our lives are busy enough, our prayers for ourselves and loved ones are frequent and sometimes rushed. And here I am, trying to squeeze in another prayer for someone else, if I can even remember to do that. Lately, I’ve been revising the Jewish prayer I’ve always loved (“...from your lips to God's ears”) and praying at the very moment I either promise or that I am asked, “From my heart to your ears, my Lord.” And then I trust that he hears and he knows what I am after. This way, even if I forget to pray in depth later, I know in my heart that I have at least done this much.

The other problem, praying for the right results for someone else, isn’t always easy. We could just pray for exactly what was requested. Yet I know from experience that sometimes we ask for something that God knows is not going to work out for us. So, if I remember to pray a bit longer than my 8-word quickie above, I ask God to ease this person’s suffering and worry, to hear my prayer for a happy result, and then I thank him, as I often do, for working on it as we speak.

Thank you, Lord, for knowing what’s in my heart without my even saying it.