“Brothers, pray for us.” 1 Thessalonians 5:25
The apostle Paul throughout his epistles to the various churches and individuals, constantly comforts them with the fact that he is praying for them in their specific needs. But, recognizing his complete dependence upon Christ and his utter inability to stand in his own strength, he implores his fellow believers: “Brothers, pray for us.”
The temptation might be for us to think that while there are certain needs within the congregation, the majority who have it together don’t really need our prayers. But the reality is – we are all but clay vessels that desperately need to be filled daily with Christ. Our pastors are as much in need of our prayers as the weakest saint in the church. Hebrews 7:25 tells us that the ascended Christ ever lives to make intercession for us! If our Saviour ever lives for the express purpose of interceding on our behalf, ought we not to be more serious and to be giving more time in our intercession for one another?
One way to implement this, in addition to praying for the sick and the shut-ins of our congregation, is to take our church directory and focus on a specific family for a day or a week at a time, and spend time in prayer for that particular family. Each family has its own particular needs, and particular joys as well. Perhaps some names are unfamiliar to you. In that case some investigation will be necessary, before you can properly spend time in prayer for them. As we go through our church directories, we will come more and more to understand the particular needs and struggles that each family faces, and will come more and more to know our dependence on Christ alone. Hopefully we can also come more and more to appreciate the particular strengths that Christ has given to each member for the upbuilding of this, His Church.
May God be pleased to use our prayers for one another to draw us ever closer to Him, and thus to one another! And may this church be a bright beacon in a lost world of darkness for many years to come, to God’s eternal glory!
~Chris
