Many people today are swimming in a sea of anxiety. They often carry that anxiety right to the door of the intercessor they are asking to pray for them. If we’re not aware of what is happening we may find ourselves praying right in the midst of that sea!
Here are a few clues that have helped me along the way to realize what water-way I am preparing to enter. When you hear the person requesting prayer say, “If God can”. That statement comes from the bubbling waters of doubt. Doubt is not where we want to wade into prayer.
I recognize the sound of the sea of anxiety when I hear words like these, “Jesus just needs to…” or pray that ________________ and pray that ____________”. This is a sign that the person needing prayer is so filled with anxiety that they want to attempt to control God within the prayer!
If I wade into their anxiety with them and pray from an anxious, doubting heart and then tell God exactly what he needs to do and just how to do it, both the person I’m praying for and I are in trouble. But if I choose to stand beside still waters to pray the outcome will be much different.
Psalm 23 tells us that God leads us beside still waters. Still waters are the waters that we sit beside, stand next too, and even float upon! These are the waters of faith in one who is far greater than I am.
When I pray and intercede for someone beside still waters, I can pray with a strong sense of peace in the most critical situation. You see, when we pray by still waters, we don’t have to figure out just what to tell God to do. We trust that God knows what the person’s truest needs are and we believe that he is going to handle it without us having all the answers.
If you’re struggling to know how to pray for someone in need and you’re feeling frustrated, you may have fallen into the sea of anxiety and found yourself believing that you need to have just the right words so God will know what to do. You may even be experiencing doubt that God will answer the prayer you’re praying. If so, grab the nearest life raft with the word Jesus on the side and get out of the sea of anxiety.
Take Jesus’ hand for he will lead you to still waters where you can pray fervently in faith trusting that God knows the answers; that he will guide your prayer, and that God will answer in his good and perfect way. Don’t forget to enjoy your time praying there. It’s a beautiful place to be.
By Jacqui – One of God’s Intercessors
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