GIVING THE GIFT OF PRAYER

Giving the Gift of Prayer

Read: Romans 8:28–34
Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 23–25; Mark 14:1–26

You help us by your prayers.—2 Corinthians 1:11

“I didn’t realize what a gift prayer was until my brother was sick and you all prayed for him. I cannot tell you what a comfort your prayers were!”

Laura had tears in her eyes as she thanked me for the prayers of the people in our church for her brother, who was facing a cancer diagnosis. She continued, “Your prayers have strengthened him in this difficult time and have been an encouragement to our entire family.”

One of the best ways to love others is to pray for them. Jesus is our ultimate example in this. The New Testament tells us about Jesus praying for others on many occasions, and even shows us that He continues to come to the Father on our behalf. Romans 8:34 says that He “is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” Even after showing such selfless love at the cross, the risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ continues to express His care for us by praying for us at this very moment.

All around us are people who need us to follow Jesus’s example and love them with our prayers, inviting God’s help and intervention in their lives. We can ask God to help us pray for them, and He will! May our loving Lord strengthen us to generously give the gift of our prayers for others today. —James Banks

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for praying for me. Help me to serve You and others through faithfully praying today.

Submit your prayer request and pray for others at YourDailyBread.org.

Prayer is a gift to be shared.

INSIGHT: Both the Spirit and the Son are interceding (praying) for us. The Spirit helps us when we don’t know how to pray, praying for us according to the will of God (Romans 8:26-27). Likewise the Son is interceding for us from “the right hand of God” (v. 34). How wonderful to know that two of the three members of the Trinity are praying for us!

But what about the Father? It is the Father who calls us to be part of His family (vv. 29-30). It is out of His love for us that He sent His Son to die for our sins and then raised Him to life so that we would one day be glorified and given all things (vv. 32-33). It is in the love of God that the Spirit and the Son pray for us.

Since God’s love motivates prayers on our behalf, to whom can you show love by praying for them? J.R. Hudberg

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