New Prayer Request and Thoughts About Prayer Requests

The older I get, the more I find myself praying for folks I know. Our lives get more tangled, more complicated and filled with unpredictable and troublesome events as we age. Sometimes, a quick prayer is the best we can do. But we should never think that’s too small a gesture.

The older I get, the more I realize and acknowledge and anticipate the value of prayer.

There’s no shame in asking for a prayer from a friend, and it is not a sign of weakness. In fact, it is a sign of faith and it makes us stronger when we can look back and see that things worked out that, according to earthly terms, never should have worked out at all.

Anyhow, one of my friends lost her husband 2 days before Christmas. Whether or not we expect a death, the effects can still be hard to deal with.

It’s even more difficult if there are financial or other complications that result from that passing. We want to grieve, but we have to keep moving on, tying up loose ends, filling out zillions of sheets of papers, wondering whether we can even live on what we have left, on what will be coming in on a lesser level.

My heart aches for her at this time. She should be free to grieve but, like myself in one instance, and like other friends of mine, the loss also entails a loss of income and other issues. There is uncertainty while they await the final decision on their future income. 

She is a woman of faith. I am a woman of faith, too, but I must admit to many a nervous moment, wondering how the Lord will work things out.

On top of that, this month has flown by for me. Every time I think I will have a chunk of time for this, or for that, even if I am just hoping for a specific hour or two, things pop up to make me put it aside or forget my intentions. In this case, I have meant, several times, to offer her moral support, friendly caring words. This is my first decent attempt at that, even though I have prayed on my own.

Now I am asking for more prayer power, from some of you.

Dear Lord Jesus, you who knew grief and sorrow when the family friend Lazarus passed away, look kindly and gently and compassionately upon my friend and her loved ones. Fill them with all that peace and patience and trust they need while they await these outcomes. Would you please pass along a little wisdom, too, and enable them to see doors open where they thought they were shut? And carry them in their worst moments. Bless all those who pray for her and for others. We trust in you.