Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way. I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon.
Hebrews 13:18,19
Of all the spiritual phrases that are used, asking someone to pray for you might just be at the top of the list. After all, it doesn’t cost anything or require any commitment. This same phrase can be used for passing a spelling test in school or for a bloodwork test. It can be for a beloved parent or for a pet.
Pain and need can be powerful motivators when it comes to asking for prayer. I remember hearing the president of the company I worked for arguing on the phone. You couldn’t miss it. Even though he was yelling into the phone, the door to his office was open and the sound bounced off the plaster walls and hardwood floors.
A few minutes after things quieted down, I gently knocked on the door. As I stood there, he unloaded about his frustration with his son. The only thing that I could think of to say was, “Would you mind if I prayed for you and your son?” This hard-driving, hard-drinking man just melted and said that he would really appreciate it.
This prayer request to the Hebrews isn’t like saying grace before you eat. Not some short, cover-your-bases prayer. This isn’t asking them to pray in some general way either. It’s not a prayer that sounds like a weather forecast, with 50% chance of blessings. It’s not asking for some kind of fuzzy answer that’s out there somewhere.
Not on your life. The writer is asking for a very specific kind of prayer. This kind of prayer is to give them a very sure answer. A definite answer for how they’re to live. But more than just information, they need the power to follow through and do what God wants.
You don’t hear this kind of prayer being asked for a lot today. Mostly, prayer requests sound more like a weather report. Something that you can believe or not. It’s just another option on the menu of life. Another kind of soda to be looked at when you go to the grocery store.
Think about the last time you asked someone to pray for you. For someone in your family. For a friend or neighbor. How did you ask? Were you quiet and shy about it? Did you lower your head and voice so only one person could hear?
Well, this isn’t the way the writer is asking for prayer. Not at all. They’re not just asking, they’re demanding prayer. They’re ordering the Hebrews to pray. But not just at a certain time. Not just when they get together for a prayer meeting. This kind of prayer needs to be continually going on.
Another thing that makes this prayer request unusual is that it’s not for a thing. It’s not to feel better, or even for healing. It’s not a prayer for God to pour out his Spirit on them. Or for some great blessing to fall on them. This prayer request is too significant for anything like that. The writer asks for two very important things that are not something that you can hold.
Have a clear conscience. This isn’t just to clean up their conscience and then fall back into their old habits. It’s to have and to hold onto a clear conscience. On our wedding day, I told Mary Ann that I promised “to have and to hold from this day forward.” It was a promise of unconditional acceptance that cannot be broken. This is the kind of commitment that they want toward a conscience that’s totally clear and clean.
Desire to live honorably in every way. Some desires come and go. But not this one. This desire is here to stay. It’s presently and actively wanting nothing but the best for themselves and everyone around them. Think about living with honor as doing good in all we do. The fruit of an honorable life is beautiful. It blesses and inspires people so much that they will want to be just like you. An honorable life is pleasing to be near.
Wow! Talk about a huge prayer request. Can you imagine what your life would be like if you had both a clear conscience and lived honorably? Imagine the weight that would be lifted off you. How the screen and sound system in your brain wouldn’t be dragged back to things you’ve said or did. How your words, thoughts, actions, and attitudes would be changed.
For a minute, think about this prayer request. It looks back and forward at the same time. A clear conscience is looking backwards into your past. The history of your life. The things that happened in your life that you so desperately want to forget. Living honorably is looking forward into the future of your life. Where you’re going. What you’re going to do in the hours, days, weeks, months, and years that are in front of you.
Have we ever dared to ask someone to pray for us like this? When we ask for our conscience to be cleaned, we’re admitting that it’s dirty. That there’s junk in the trunk of our head and lives. When we ask to live honorably, we’re also admitting that we haven’t been exactly doing the things that God wants us to do. Now is the time to ask for this kind of prayer. Prayer that changes our life. Changes the way we look at our past and into our future. Prayer that can only impact the way we live in a big way. Yes, asking for this kind of prayer is asking a lot. But God’s in the business of answering big prayers in a big way. For his glory and our eternal good.
Noodling Questions
When’s the last time someone asked you to pray for them?
Describe the last time you asked someone to pray for you?
Why is asking for prayer so humbling? And so liberating?
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