James 5:15-16 NIV – And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If they sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective
A former coworker recently shared a Facebook posting that read as follows.
“When you tell someone that you will pray for them, you have made a promise to speak to God on their behalf. Those are serious words not to be taken lightly.
Someone is counting on you.” Something that I observed while Dick Sipe was our interim pastor was that whenever somebody brought a prayer concern to Dick he would immediately pray with them. Pastor Dick acted on the request for prayer and did so with the requester of prayer present. He didn’t put the prayer off for another time or make a promise that might be later forgotten. He prayed whenever and wherever someone made a request for prayer. I believe that Pastor Dick’s approach is a response to emulate when asked to pray. That is, pray at the moment. Praying at the moment of request allows people, who are in need, know that you are supportive and care about their concerns.