Prayer Unspoken

Hey guys.  So I know I just posted a new update on here yesterday, but I wanted to share with y'all something The Lord has really laid on my heart several times recently.

So there's no doubt about it - prayer is a big deal.

I'm a strong believer in prayer, and I believe that through prayer, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we are able to do awesome things.  With it, we get to talk directly to our Heavenly Father, and bring our requests, praises, burdens, blessings, and everything else we humans have to deal with directly to Him, and lay them down at His feet.

As Christians, prayer requests are a normal thing, especially in group settings with our close friends and family.  I know that anytime my friends have prayer requests, I'm eager to lift them up to the Lord, and continually pray for them during their time of struggles.

But ever since a few weeks ago, The Lord has really been working on my heart regarding prayer, and has shown me something that I've really been overlooking.  Like I said, anytime my friends or family request prayer, I'm eager to jump on it and add them to my daily/weekly prayer list.  But last night I realized something: what about the unspoken requests? And no, I'm not referring to the kind of prayer requests where people say they have a request by it being unspoken, I'm talking about the people who don't even bring theirs to the table--the one's that are literally unspoken.

We all have that one person--you know, that one human being that may not have particularly said or done anything specific to you to make you not like them, but they just don't appeal to you? (if this doesn't apply, yay for you).  I know for me, they're the last person I think of or want to pray for.

But then God stopped me in my tracks, and that's the exact thing He told me, "Pray for those that you don't want to pray for." 

I have an acquaintance that I've known for probably over a year now, who goes to Christian events I go to, but we just haven't made a good connection with each other.  I mean we've made small talk, and I see them a couple times a week, but we've never laid a foundation for a good friendship.  I mean, they seemed reserved and came off prideful, so they probably aren't too worried about being a close friend with me anyway, right?  Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Because I just found out that they just recently - and I mean reeecently - accepted Christ as their personal Savior, and are now teaching their family about Christ.

And then, I completely deflated.

For this past a-little-over-a-year that I've known them, I've also been going to my church, talking about prayer, talking about spreading the Word, talking about witnessing to the lost and all the things Christians talk about...yeah, talked about.  I've learned that I need to stop talking about showing Christ, and need to start portraying Christ and His love.  All this time I just assumed that this acquaintance was just 'one of those people' who is a Christian, but just not the friendly, social or outgoing type.  When really--they were just a lost kid who needed Christ's love and needed a friend.

I cannot express the disappointment and frustration I felt when I discovered this.  All this time this person probably just needed a friend and someone to talk to, and I've missed the opportunity time after time again to be just that. And that's when God told me again, "Pray for those you don't want to pray for."

While praying for good grades, dogs that just passed away, and the silly new iPhone that someone wants aren't bad things, I've learned that, sometimes the people who need praying for the most, are the people who seem to request the least.  I pray that God will continue to allow this person to stay in my life, and that I might be able to make up for all the time and opportunities I've missed to be their friend.

I encourage you to join me in beginning to pray for those who you don't want to pray for, and next time we meet someone who just doesn't seem to connect with us, taking the extra effort to dig a little deeper to get to know the person that they really are, not just the person they seem to be.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day, and may God's love and grace abound. 
Abby-Lynn