A Reminder to Pray

My dad was visiting last week and he spent a lot of time applying his landscaping skills on my flower beds.  At one point he showed me how to use a mattock to even out the flower bed border.  As I picked up the mattock, I paused and prayed for a friend of mine named Mike.  That may seem to be an odd thing to do while working on flower beds, but my friend Mike had given me the mattock with one stipulation: to pray for him whenever I used it.  I took his request to heart, and now it has become the norm.

We are living in perilous times, where the very norms of our society are being ripped apart right before our eyes.  The Bible tells us to pray for our governmental leaders: (1 Tim 2:2).   A lot of the people who are pushing the immoral agenda, would not if they were in Christ.  The Bible tells us to pray for  opportunities to proclaim Christ [Col 4:2-4], for boldness [Eph 6:18-20], and to be effective in sharing our faith [Phile 1:6].

We should also pray for the church [Phil 1:9-11].  There are people within the church who are in need of healing, jobs, improvements in their marriages and family relationships.  We need to keep our children in prayer as they grow that they would be steadfast in their faith [Eph 3:16-19].   We need to pray for upcoming church projects and outreaches, and for direction [2 Th 1:11-12]  .

It seems the list of things to pray for is inexhaustible.  I don’t know if we necessarily need a reminder to pray, as much as a reminder to pray for specific items, as the list can be overwhelming.  My  family typically takes time during our even meal time prayer to pray for the weekly prayer focus family.   The Tuesday night prayer time is a reminder to me to pray for individuals in the church body.  Sunday mornings I pray for the church service and the individuals who will be there. At the beginning of Sunday church service we take time to thank God for his goodness to us, and during announcements we pray for specific needs.

It is exciting to see how God has been answering our prayers.  So how can we incorporate more prayer in our lives?  Are there times in your daily schedule that you can take an opportunity and pray about a specific subject?  Are their mechanisms in your life to serve as reminders to pray?

The Bible calls us to pray continually (1 Th 5:17 NIV).  And that can include praying as we work in a flower bed.  Amen?