"I'll Pray for You"

I used to never tell my friends or family that I would pray for them, because I wouldn't. I rarely prayed for myself, I knew I wouldn't be praying for anyone and their certain situation so I wouldn't say it. In truth, the only prayer I said was the daily "blessing" before dinner. In recent years, I've really worked on my spiritual relationships and part of that was learning how to pray.

I realize that everyone prays differently, some use journals, some do it every night before bed. Some are conversational with God, and some are more formal. But even then, I didn't tell people I would pray for them. I don't know if I was embarrassed or if I just didn't believe that it would make a difference, but now I know now that it does.

I am almost ashamed to admit this, but because we're being honest and real here, I will say it. When people said they would pray for me, or for others (i.e. when someone announced a sad situation on facebook and the commenters replied "You're in my prayers!") I wouldn't think they were being sincere. I thought it was just something people said to make other people feel better, but I realized that though was wrong.I realized that praying for someone doesn't have to be some long, elaborate thing. It can be a simple "Lord, please give ____ love, support, and guidance during their time of ____ right now" and He will hear it. How awesome is that? Once sentence is all it takes.

I don't believe in perfection, but I believe in trying to better ourselves and I believe that there is always room for improvement. I have started telling my friends and family that I will pray for them, and even though it was difficult to say at first, I have gotten more comfortable with it. Sometimes I think that people don't want to hear that they are being prayed for under normal circumstances, because that means there is something wrong or something that needs to be fixed, but in my opinion, everyone needs to be uplifted, for something big or for something small, or even just to say that you love them and are thinking of them. God hears everything.

All of this to say, spirituality and faith is a journey; finding yourself and having a strong relationship with the Lord takes practice, patience, and time. It's something that doesn't come easily. Just like any other relationship, to make it thrive, you have to invest in it, you have to make time for it. I've found that including the people I care about in my prayers has actually helped strengthen my own relationship with God.

What part of prayer do you find most difficult?