On the Prayer List

After spending an hour at the food shelf last Friday, my prayer list of people in need has grown.  There are some new names on it.  Other names have been there for a very long time.

Who's on this list?  Some are the names of people in deep financial trouble.  Others are needing to get free of addictions.  Some have major health issues.  And then there are complex family difficulties and painful emotional turmoil.

In the case of most of those I'm thinking of and praying for, it seems that all of these issues, in one way or another, are present in their lives-- all at the same time.  To top that off, many of them have their children to think of and, most, for one reason or another, are single parents.

How will we respond?  Will we dare to come alongside them?  Or will we hold them at arm's length?  Will we at least look for them and pray for them by name?  Will we be open to walking beside them for as long as the Lord calls us to do so?

Let's ask God to bring those names to mind every day.  After all, they are way more than names on a list.  They are the beloved of God.

Time for me now to go and call, and perhaps even go and see, in person, one of those families that is on my list.  I believe that's what God is calling me to do.  What about you?

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