The Person I Want Praying For Me

If you’re like me, you’re glad to have the prayers of anyone and everyone. And yet, when we have an urgent need, the kind we want kept in confidence, and for which we need immediate emergency prayer, the people we first think of calling are extremely few in number.

We were facing a family crisis, but the kind you don’t want to write about on your blog or announce in facebook or proclaim from the pulpit. It was more the type every family deals with sooner or later and wishes would go away.

We needed to pray and we needed prayer.

Margaret thought of one person to call and I thought of one. We made those two phone calls and enlisted those special friends to intercede for the situation. We have every confidence in them and in their prayers.

Do I think God hears one person’s prayers above all others? Do I think some people pray better than other people? Would a loving Father choose to answer one child’s requests and ignore the pleas from another?

I have no answer to these questions.

God is sovereign and can answer any request He pleases (Psalm 115:3). If there is a pattern to the way He grants one request and denies another, I haven’t found it yet.

It’s tempting to say it’s all a matter of faith, but we know better than that. People of great faith go through times when Heaven seems far off, when their prayers seem to rise no higher than the ceiling, when God seems deaf or preoccupied, the same as everyone else.

Even so, you and I have a few people whom we think of calling for prayer before everyone else.

Here are the four qualities of the person I call for prayer first.


1. A PERSON WHO PRAYS

Does that seem a little obvious? We will not quickly think of asking someone for prayer who does not already have a healthy prayer life. We want someone interceding for us who is on speaking terms with the Almighty.

2. A PERSON WHO BELIEVES.

We do not believe that answers to prayer are meted out depending on the amount of faith the beseechers can muster. That kind of misguided spirituality has driven many a sincere believer crazy as they blamed themselves for God failing to heal a dying child or rescue a loved one in the grips of addiction.

And yet, it is true that without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).

There is a difference, we believe, in prayers that nag God, prayers that hand the Father His to-do list, and prayers that are humbly offered in faith by obedient but expectant children. The last is the prayer we want for our need.

3. A PERSON WHO HAS HURT.

The believer who has never known suffering or failure will tend not to understand those who do. The Christian whose life has been a succession of achievements and successes may not understand when we come to him with a request for prayer for our weakness.

And so, we prefer to go to those who have failed in life and got up and tried again, to those who have sinned and been forgiven, to those who define themselves by God’s mercy and grace instead of their own focus and strength.

The writer of Hebrews valued this quality in the Lord Jesus Christ. We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:15-16). He who has known pain in His life can understand ours.

4. A PERSON WHO KNOWS.

The one I want praying for me is someone who has settled his doubts for the most part and who is clear in his mind as to Whom he is praying, that he comes to Heaven’s throne through the cross of Jesus, and that more than anything else, we want God’s will to be done in this and all things.

This is a mature believer, not a novice or beginner.

We want a veteran believer interceding for us–someone who has fought the wars, carries the scars, sees the Prize, knows the enemy, and is willing to pay the price in order to be heard in Heaven.

This request from such a prayer warrior will not be a little “oh yes, Lord, I almost forgot” tagged onto the end of his nightly prayers.

The prayers I’m asking for from such a friend are intentional intercessions in which he goes into his prayer room and shuts out all interferences and enters Heaven’s throne room on my behalf. He speaks to the Heavenly Father as one who has often been in that room before. When he speaks, I get the feeling that activity in Heaven stops so that request can be heard and considered.

Attorneys will list in their resumes that they have pleaded cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. There is no higher court in which they can represent their client, no greater challenge to their profession, no higher accolade they can claim.

To the child of God, there is no greater privilege or opportunity or burden or responsibility than entering the throne room of Heaven to speak for one of the Lord’s children with a special need.

I want someone praying for me who knows this.

4 thoughts on “The Person I Want Praying For Me

  1. I loved this instruction Im going to send your info to our 2 grandsons who deployed last Saturday> First to Ft. Sill, OK for 3 mos then to Iraq from there. Havent heard a time frame for the iraq deployment. They are saved but have been too busy to be in church im doing all i can think of to influence them more toward the daily word. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I am a prayer warrior and have been in intersessory prayer many time. I would consider it an honor if you are burden sometimes and God shows you my name. You were and still are a great spiritual in fluence in my fammilys life, but especially mine and Michael. He used things you had taught him as a boy when he became a Deacon at the age of 23. He has a powerful relationship with God. Of course, hes in Heaven now wanting me to draw ever closer to the throne. Without my prayer life, only God above knows where I might have landed. I opened myself up to interceding prayer before I met you all God has really tested my faithfulness and the ability to pray in confidence.

  2. #5 – A Person Who Honors Commitment! For whatever reason one of the VERY MOST ESSENTIAL qualities was left off – CONFIDENTIALITY! If I’m going to expose more of my hurting self to this friend, I want to make sure that NO ONE, absolutely NO ONE, else is EVER going to know about it; the prayer concern goes to the grave with my prayer partner and me.

    #6 – A Person of the Same Gender. Again, for whatever reason this important quality was left off as well. I don’t think in the interest of trying to avoid the temptation of sexuality that persons of opposite genders should be that intimate in prayer.

    Just my thoughts, Doctor Joe. 🙂

  3. Joe, this is a great article. As I have been puting a prayer team together and as I read this article I realize that I need to rethink a couple of people that I was considering to be a part of my team. Also, it is a great gut check for me, to make sure that as I seek to be a man of prayer. Thanks brother Joe!

  4. you addressed all the reasons I turn to you for prayer

    I know you mean it whwn you say I’m praying for you

    Thanks

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