The scripture for today, December 23, is 1st Samuel 12:23 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:
“As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.”
It’s a sin not to pray for others!
Do your prayers get bogged down in the mire of me’s? Do you wonder why you can’t pray for more than a couple minutes ~ five on a good day? Satan gets you to do this; he is the enemy of prayer because he knows how powerful it is.
Who is on your prayer list? Pray for people by name. Your neighbors. People you work with. Your government officials ~ both good and bad. People in a nursing home. People in your congregation. People in the military. People being persecuted, imprisoned and even killed because they are Christians. Missionaries. Children in an orphan home. Sales people at the store. Local school teachers.
Pray for 15 minutes a day. Half an hour. An hour. It’s oh so easy when we stop praying only for self and pray for others.
Pray for them by name. And tell them that you do. Some people have never been told, “I am praying for you”.
Let us not sin by praying only for “me”.