And this is my prayer...

What do I pray for and why?
Have you ever bumped into a friend or neighbor in the store and, after they updated you about their current drama, you left them with the words: "I'll pray for you."
I've done it! And to be honest with you, if I don't write these things down immediately, I sometimes forget to follow up on my promise. And that leads to feeling embarrased about myself, about treating such a promise lightly and not being more considerate about the trouble the other person is going through. I don't want my words to be meaningless or an empty cliche, so I have decided that either

1. I have to pray with the person on the spot, or
2. write it down immediately and pray later, or
3. ask the person what I should pray for and get specific so we can agree

The last method I learned from the apostle Paul; he told the believers at Philippi: and this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight... (Philippians 1:9-11) He did not adress the people casually, 'oh, I'll pray for you...' He told them what he prayed for and why he did it, he expected certain results because of his prayer. He wanted them to gain a greater understanding of love and he clarified why, so that:

• you may be able to discern what is best, in other words you will be able to make the right choices and always act in love, and love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8)


• you may be pure and blameless until the day of Jesus Christ, because love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8)


• you may be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, you will have peace over the situation because the fruit of righteousness is peace (Isaiah 32:17)

Paul ads the ultimate goal of his prayer -to the glory and praise of God! Wouldn't this be a great way to practise effective prayer this week?