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, we’re especially thankful today for the friends you’ve put in our lives over the years. The older we get, the more we treasure the tapestry of people you’ve written into out stories. 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, we can regularly bring our friends to your throne of grace. Help us to be more faithful in remembering and praying for my friends this year, 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 our prayer list for our friends is their relationship with you, Father. By your Holy Spirit, continue to reveal more and more of your great love for them in Jesus. Dazzle their hearts afresh (and mine) with the incomparable beauty of Jesus. Restore each of us to our first love, first peace, and first joy—indeed, the rekindle the wonder of what it felt like to know all of our sins are forgiven, we’re now counted righteous in Christ, and we’re and 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 us how to pray; but also show us how we’re to engage and to serve them. Life is to just too short not to “grace up” and show up. Always keep our “to love list” longer and more current, than our “to do list.” So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ tender and triumphant name.