"Let Me Pray for You"

When I was a student at Hope, we had Chapel in the morning on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and The Gathering on Sunday evenings. No classes were held during Chapel so you could certainly go, and the cool part was attendance was certainly encouraged but definitely not required. It was a major factor in why I liked Hope over a lot of the other Christian liberal arts institutions. Hope believed in the mentality that you have to make your faith your own rather than goading you into it, but they were more than willing to provide a place to help you grow as a Christian. I appreciated that.

One of the things was we had guest speakers at Chapel on a regular basis. The band would rock out, Dwight or Josh would close us in prayer, we'd sit down, and then Trygve or Paul would intro a stranger listed on KnowHope for us.

Sweet! A new person.

As I look back, one thing that sticks out to me was, without fail, Trygve or Paul would look at our guest and say, "Let me pray for you."

And then that's what would happen. It wasn't anything necessarily long or even complex, but a gesture that as I look back meant more than I saw then. Speaking in front of a group of people that you might have never even seen in your life (or even if you have) is nerve-wracking. When Trygve and Paul took that short moment to pray with these guests, I can see where not only were they lifting the message and us as a congregation in prayer, but the person as well when they likely needed it immediately.

That's the takeaway I see now. So often, we hear, "Would you pray for me?" or "I really need prayer for this." A wise friend of mine has appropriately stated there is never a shortage of people who need prayer. In light of that, why would we wait? I personally have the mind of an artist. I can memorize the repertory for a recital or choir tour and sing it back for you, yet I can't even remember what five things I'm supposed to get at the grocery store for my family (was it milk, bread, eggs, cheese, and onions? Or was it juice, coffee, butter, apples, and cereal?).

Keeping it all and who straight is a near-impossible task for my chaotic mind. I get bummed when I think, "Oh. Yeah. I didn't pray for him." I guess my point is don't just walk away from someone when they need prayer. We're not supposed to approach life as a bunch of individuals. We're a family in Christ. I've always been grateful when I have asked and been prayed over in that moment and in turn, I've seen the gratitude come back when I've prayed over someone in their moment of need.