Faithful Petitioning

Romans 1:9-10 (NIVUK) —

‘God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times.’

This week I’m sharing some reflections that I’ve had in the aftermath of my grandad’s passing in January.

'I’ll pray for you!'

Confession time! Sometimes I say that I’ll pray for people and then I forget. I always mean it when I say it, and I like to think that on the whole I’m pretty good, but I’d be lying if I said there weren’t some people who are owed a bit of 'on the knees' time from me. This wasn’t a problem for Paul. He prayed constantly for the church in Rome, and he had a witness…the One he was praying to!

It didn’t seem to be a problem for my grandad either. He and my granny used to sit down every day after breakfast; they’d read a passage from the Bible together and they’d pray for each member of the family…and then a whole bunch of other people. I can’t tell you how much it meant to me to know that every day there were at least two people on this earth praying for me, petitioning God on my behalf, asking him to rain down his abundant blessings on me. Now there’s one.

In the wake of my grandad’s death, I’m resolving to be a better intercessor. It may be a while before I build up the stamina of my grandparents where everyone gets prayed for every day. But I can just about manage making sure the people God has put in my life get prayed for every week. It’s a start!

Action - Who can you commit to praying for every week?