As for me, I will certainly not sin against the LORD by ending my prayers for you. 1 Sam. 12:23 (NLT)
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Eccl. 4:9-10 (NIV)
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Gal. 6:2 (ESV)
Dear heavenly Father, I’m especially thankful today for the friends you’ve put in my life. The older I get, the more I treasure the tapestry of people you’ve written into my story. And yet, as with other things precious to us, it’s easy to fall into patterns of “out of sight, out of mind,” when it comes to the people we love.
Though we can’t always sit face to face, I can always bring my friends to your throne of grace. Help me to be more faithful in remembering and praying for my friends, Father. We really do need one another—not just for burden bearing, but also for regular encouragement.
The one thing that’s always going to be at the top of my prayer list for my friends is their relationship with you, Father. By your Holy Spirit, continue to reveal more and more of your great love for them in Christ. Dazzle their hearts afresh (and mine) with the welcoming beauty of Jesus. Restore all of us to our first love, first peace, and first joy—the wonder of what it felt like to know all of our sins are forgiven, we’re now counted righteous in Christ, and we are forever your beloved daughters and sons.
And for friends in difficult seasons of life, Father—those weighed down by the burdens of health issues and stressed relationships, old wounds yielding fresh pain and new stories bearing uncertain outcomes—for these friends, Father, by your Holy Spirit, show me how to pray; but also show me how I’m to love. Life is to just too short not to “grace up” and show up. Always keep my “to love list” longer than my to do list. So very Amen I pray, in Jesus’ tender and triumphant name.