Every Monday morning I have a friend who faithfully texts me, asking what she can pray for that week. I am not the only one blessed by this practice. She sends a similar text or email to a group of individuals serving in full-time ministry across the country, and across the world.
Some Monday mornings, I look forward to her text; ready with a short but sweet item we can lift up to the Father together. Other Monday mornings, her text awakens me and it takes a moment for my brain to kick into gear and process my thoughts and prayers. However, there are other Monday mornings in which her text frustrates me.
Yes, you read that right. An offer for prayer is a frustration trigger—not with the person who offers the prayers, but rather with the burdensome list of cares I don’t know how to bring before the Father. And if I am having trouble putting those thoughts into words myself, how am I going to communicate the weight, depth, and breadth of those prayers in a texted reply to a friend?
God knows what’s on my heart and the true struggles we are wrestling over together in prayer. So when it comes to sharing those prayer requests with others, unless we have enough time to fully discuss and disclose those burdens, it is easier to ask for simple, generalized requests that barely scratch the surface.
Thankfully we don’t have to tweet our prayers (limit them to only 140 characters), nor do we have to capture the picture-perfect moment of prayer, like on Instagram. My prayers are far from Pinterest perfection in their wording. But that’s okay.
God hears my heart and the depth of relationship and communication is what He longs for.
If your Monday morning prayers are weighted by the burdens of the week and the frustrations of the day, join with me in reveling in the beauty of how God listens. And thank Him for the honor of sharing those requests with others, even when you don’t have the words.