This morning I took a few kids in to town to drop them off at our Shabbat fellowship. Several others aren't feeling well so I had to drive back home to play nurse. We have a Hindu temple across the street from the place our fellowship meets---I've never really thought much about it. Driving past today, I noticed a guy with sort of a Bill-Murray-in-What-About-Bob? look to him. He was out for a walk, and as he passed the temple he took his hat off and put it over his heart. Raising the other hand in the air, he closed his eyes and began praying as he walked by. It struck me that in all the hundreds of times I'd driven by the temple, it had never occurred to me to pray for the people who worship there. My next thought was, "and that's ok."
Sometimes I get hung up thinking about how the prayer needs are so enormous (and my prayer time is so limited in comparison) that it holds me back from praying for the things the Father has placed on my heart, specifically. Often I just get caught up in my own life and thoughts about the prayer needs of others get pushed to the back burner. I know people who are "prayer warriors"---I admit I'm not one of them. I talk to God all day long---but I don't bring the needs of others before Him on a daily basis, unless He prompts me and reminds me.
Don't get me wrong---I definitely believe we should be praying for one another and I know I need to be much more sensitive to this. However, we can't all pray for everything and everyone. I guess what I'm saying is that I want to be sensitive to the needs the Father has put on MY heart to remember. Rather than beating myself up that I don't have all my acquaintances' needs written down in a prayer journal or that I have never thought to pray for the Hindus across the street, I can focus on being faithful to the needs the Father is poking me about specifically and pray for those. Praying as the Father leads us is one of those things we all can do to function as a unified body. While there are many things that serve to divide us, the one thing we all have is access to the Father through prayer. There will be different focuses for each of us---and different amounts of time allotted. I'm praying for discernment to recognize which burdens He's instructing me, specifically, to bear.
