"Pray For Me!"

            It is not uncommon for me to have a conversation with someone where the words "pray for me" are used. This week, I've had such requests from friends, parishioners, someone at the care home, a stranger in the hospital. I once had a man grab my arm in the grocery store, pleading "Pastor! Pray for me!" when all I was trying to do was buy some potatoes.

            All of us, at some point, are invited to pray for someone else. It may be a stranger pleading in the produce section, it may be a litany of names in the church bulletin, it may be the unchurched neighbour who finds other things to do on Sunday morning.

            All of us, when we are invited to pray for someone else, can respond in a number of ways. We could decide the other person is unworthy of our prayers, and decline the invitation. (Egads, can you imagine?!) We could engage in a conversation witht hat person to find out what desire is stirring their hearts to ask for prayer. We could start a theological discourse on why the person feels they need to invoke others into their petitions (are they incapable of praying for themselves? Do they feel spiritually inadequate to speak with God directly?) We could get into a debate about how God answers prayers (is prayer a wish list of our desire, or an intention to align our desire with God's will?)

            The truth is, there are countless ways to interpret someone's request. There are countless ways to react to someone's request. There are countless ways to pray for someone as they make these requests.

            My truth is this: when I am asked to pray for someone, I don't get into the whats and whys and wherefores. I accept their request. I do my best to keep that person and their concern in my heart, and to raise their names intentionally before God when I dedicate time to prayer. Whether praying for unlikely medical miracles or help on an exam or understanding during bible study: when I am asked to pray, I pray.

            And my truth is also this: that God answers all of our prayers. The answer may not be what we expected, or what we wanted; but God answers our prayers in the way that is best for us - whether we understand that or not. So part of my prayer, when I am asked to pray for someone, is that they might be spiritually able to receive God's answer to their prayer.

            So I have prayed aloud, and I have prayed silently. I have prayed in a pew, and in the car. I have prayed holding a prayer book, and I have prayed holding a bag of potatoes.  I have prayed eloquently, and I have prayed fumbling over words. But I have prayed. I will continue to pray. I consider it a privilege to be invited into confidences that people wish to pray.

            So yes: I will pray for you. I will pray with you. And I hope you will pray for me too.