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Nov 13, 2019 08:00am

Five Dangers of Not Asking For Prayer

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The Christian life is about community. It’s about fellowship. It’s about being one Body. To do this you have to be willing to be open and vulnerable. To let people in and get to know you. You have to share your struggles and burdens.

Sometimes it can be easier to be the sympathetic ear than to let people into your life. But if you are always the “personal prayer warrior” and never the “prayed for”, there’s a problem.

Here are five dangers of not asking others to pray for you:

No one may know you are struggling.

Even in our knowledge-driven society where Google and Alexa can find out anything we want to know, we are still not able to be mind readers. And if we don’t know you are struggling, we can’t minister to your need.

This goes for “unspoken” prayer requests, too. I know that in some situations, details must be hidden to protect people, but those times are few and far between. Let your church family and friends know what is going on so they can pray more specifically for you and be able to better help you. People may think you have it all together (or that you think you have it all together).

2. People may think you have it all together (or that you think you have it all together).

I have to admit that it’s kind of hard to maintain a relationship with someone who never appears to struggle or need a shoulder to cry on. We all have problems. None of us is self-sufficient like God, never having any needs. There is no human being who doesn’t go through trials and hardships or just have a bad day. So to give off the appearance that you don’t need help from anyone is unrealistic and makes you seem not relatable.

It can also make relationships fall flat by causing the other person to feel like you don’t value them enough to be open with them.

3. You rob people of the blessing of being a partner in the Holy Spirit’s work in your life.

Although God does not need us in order to do his work, he graciously allows us to join him in what he is doing. One of those ways is through prayer. It is an immense privilege and blessing to get to pray for my friends and church family! It is so awesome to pray for a specific need and then see God work — to know that God hears you and that your friend is being blessed and helped! The Bible tells Christians to bear one another’s burdens and your friends long to do that for you!!

4. You miss out on the power of other people’s prayers in your life.

James says that “the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16), so the more Christian friends you have praying for you the better!

5. You rob God of receiving praise and thanksgiving.

When I get the honor of praying for someone and then the blessing of seeing it answered, I am immediately praising God for it!!

Paul writes to the Corinthian believers that they must help him by praying for him so that many will give thanks to God for the blessing he received through their prayers (2 Corinthians 1:11). When others get to pray for you, God gets all the glory!!

And that is the most excellent reason to ask for prayer!