Intercessing

For those who don’t have this word in their vocab, it simply means praying to God for another’s needs.

If you don’t pray or don’t believe in prayer then stop reading now because this won’t mean anything to you and you’ll likely lump me with some religiously fanatical nut-jobs.

OK I’m not one (a nut job OR a real intercessor) but … I do have a long (and always seems to be growing) list of people I try to pray for.

Hardly seems like a week goes by that I don’t hear about someone I should add to my list.

I can’t and don’t spend a great deal of time on each person. My dilemma comes from this: when is it ok to stop praying for someone?

For years I’ve been praying for an older couple in our church. The lady of this couple probably qualified as a minor saint and an intercessor of the first order.

Well, she died recently. I still remember her husband and since I’ve prayed their names for so long, I still say hers because I always said it first.

I have several other names on my list and I’m not sure why for some of them. They just are. I guess at some point I felt like I should add them but then again I seem to have this issue with when can I quit?

Several days a week I pass a playground where this tall skinny kid is often swinging. I really think I understand what he is doing. Why would a 15-20 year old spend that much time in a swing unless it made him feel better? I pray for him. I don’t know his name but I pray for him and his family. If I didn’t think I might get accused of something untoward (isn’t this sad that I even have to worry about that?) I’d ask him his name.

Some people write their lists down. I don’t. I tried one time and it didn’t feel right. It seemed like I needed more flexibility than a written list gave me.

I never promise anyone I will pray for them because that seems like a sacred sort of promise and should not be taken lightly. But if I get some sense or feeling (not a woo-woo sort of thing) then I will usually add their name and need to my list. Some days the shortcut I might take is to just pray for those who have some physical issue or illness. For a few of those, that’s the most urgent thing.

This is like some of those old songs that simply faded out rather than quit so I will just fade …