MEAN WHAT YOU SAY

"As for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you."  I Samuel 12:23a

Has God ever convicted you, as He has me, of saying to someone, "I'll be praying for you," and then not following through with your promise?   We often use this phrase in the same way we would say, "See you later,"  How serious  is it to God that we follow through with our promise to pray for someone?  In I Samuel 12:23 the Bible says that we sin against the Lord when we fail to pray for each other.  Prayer was instilled in the prophet Samuel at a very early age.  His mother, Hannah,  was unable to conceive a child.  She cried out to God and made this vow to Him:

"O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life,..." I Samuel 1:11.

God heard her cry and answered her prayer.  She then carried through with her promise to God.  Through out the scriptures we find examples of Samuel praying for others.  I love in I Samuel 7:5  when Samuel said he would pray for the children of Israel he did so immediately.   Many times I have seen someone come up to my husband in a service, or some other place, and ask him to pray for a particular person or situation and he would stop right then and pray for them.   May the Lord help us to follow through when we make a promise to pray for someone.  And better still,  when we tell someone that we will pray for them to stop and pray right then...in the grocery store, on the phone, at work, in church.

"Confess your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed (my emphasis).  The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."  James 5:16.

Dear Lord,  please help me to not be careless in promising to pray for someone and not following through.  Help me to see how serious this is to God.  In Jesus name.  Amen