All The Prayers We Cannot See

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My great grandmother Olivia resided in the wilds of Kentucky in the 1800’s, but led a life not of small significance.  The very little I know about her, I can hold in my hands.  I have her well-worn Bible.  Once, many decades ago, I opened it and noticed some pencil markings in one of the margins. “Praying today for the generations to come.”

And very suddenly, I realized that through all those generations yet unborn, she was also praying for me.  Prayer has no expiration date.

We all live and endure, survive and thrive, on the prayers of those of whom we are unaware.  People we know – or not even acquainted—may be praying for each one of us, and we don’t even realize it.

When we think of what we are accomplishing or overcoming on our own, may we consider the great cloud of witnesses and an immense crowd of other believers, cheering us on, encouraging us from the sidelines, even jumping onto our course to run with us and pray us through. 

In prayer, we do not just look on, or even sympathize with others, but pray them on their journey in the Kingdom.

The apostle Paul begins most of his letters with prayers for others, even those he did not personally know. “We have not ceased to pray for you.” (Colossians 1. 9)

Because when the trajectory of Paul’s own life radically turned, I am convinced someone somewhere was praying for him, a sister perhaps, a friend, or even someone he persecuted.  Paul also became aware that the church body, now spreading like wildfire in the world, was crucially dependent on the life support of the prayers of God’s people.  The church still is.

How differently would we live, if we knew others were praying for us?  Not just in our times of despair and need, but continually lifting us up in prayer, layering God’s strength into our lives through their faithful prayers.  What change would it make if someone told us, “I am praying for you?” 

There are prayers that we cannot see.  But what if we respond verbally to need by replying, “May I pray for you right now?”  Does that change how we pray for others? How does praying in real time impact them on the spot?  Covered by prayers we actually hear.  And know that God hears them too.

We have no idea how our prayers are multiplied exponentially – one prayer spawning others -and how many thousands of individuals are not only profoundly blessed, but able to endure in their time of utter need.  Without our intercession on their behalf, “someone will be impoverished,” states Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest.  Intercession is “a hidden ministry that brings forth fruit whereby the Father is glorified.”

Prayer also enlarges our vision.  We don’t just see situations or a list of requests.  We see people.  Prayer makes us aware of God’s work around us, His hand over us, and the prayers of the saints holding us tight.  May we ourselves join that chorus of prayer, the encircling music of the spheres, that we would know and trust God more, love people more deeply – and that His glory would saturate all the earth.

We cannot always discern the light from where we stand, but God is already in this place. Praying empowers us to realize His abiding Presence.

Have we considered praying for strangers we pass in the park, for ambulances hurtling down the road, for the grumbling clerk in the store, for musicians on stage, for friends and family who suddenly come to the surface of our thoughts?  Because prayer shifts the tectonic plates of this broken world, not just to repair the jagged edges, but to restore and redeem.  Prayer always alters lives in one way or another.  God creates something new. God changes the course of a life.  Even ours.

All the prayers we cannot see….yet.