I had started a new job where a very large department of people reported to me, and honestly, I was intimidated. Because I was trying so hard to come across as a high-level manager, I was highly guarded and all-business.
Later on, I could tell that I was not connecting well with some of my team members, but I could not figure out what the problem was, so I became even more reserved.
On one particular day I was very overwhelmed from a dozen things going wrong. As I passed one of my team members, I mumbled something like, “This day is kicking my butt!” She immediately quipped back, “NOW, I am seeing the REAL you!”
I realized that she was alluding to the fact that I had been wearing a mask of perfection, and by letting her see me sweat, I immediately became relatable. Vulnerability breeds relationship, don’t you think?
As such, we cannot always be the one praying for others, and never sharing our needs. It gives the persona that we’ve got it all together when truth is, no one does.
If this does not come natural to you, here are some ideas for requesting prayer from others:
- Find someone you can really trust, and build a comfort-level with them so you can share private matters
- Take note of that person who seems to genuinely care about you, and let them in some of your struggles
- In a small group, start by sharing some temporal needs and work up to more serious ones over time
- When someone you are ministering to asks for prayer, reciprocate with something they can pray for you
- When asking for prayer, realize that you do not have to share every sacred detail. Simply say you need healing, encouragement, and so on.
Allowing others to pray for us, as we pray for others is God’s will. The intimacy of prayer strengthens the body of Christ because it builds close relationships. We are all in this thing called “life” together, and God intends for us to depend upon one another as much as we depend on Him.
The Apostle Paul knew how to ask for prayer, and did so often:
“I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf,” Romans 15:30
If Paul did not mind asking fellow believers for prayer, then why should we hesitate?
Pray on!
~gina
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Award-winning author Gina Duke is a wife, mom and the Director of Women’s Ministry at her local church. With a B.S. in Organizational Leadership, she is able to bring a clear word for authentic Christian living. Through her book, “Organizing Your Prayer Closet: A New and Life-Changing Way to Pray” (Abingdon Press), she imparts 1 Peter 4:7 with the gift of structured prayer journaling. If you would like to schedule Gina to speak on prayer or host a prayer journaling workshop, click here for more information. You may also follow her on Twitter and Instagram @TheGinaDuke.
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great post:) learning to be vulnerable with others can often be difficult. especially when we are used to appearing like we have it “all together.” we somehow think that seeming like we have it together makes us seem more competent.
truthfully, we are more competent when others realize we don’t have it together and have learned to trust Jesus and the help of others in our community for help as they pray for us and encourage and exhort us into seeing the areas we are blind to…both our strengths and weaknesses. both the ones we love and even the ones we don’t like so much, are good at pointing them out to us. not all do it in the ways we like, but learning to pay attention to the truth within their words will ultimately help us learn a lot!
I agree, Martha! Thanks for visiting. ~gina
Thank you Gina, for reading my post. And for writing a comment. So I found your site! It is a blessing for me to read this post. I know it sounds stupid, but I never learned to ask for prayer in my church when I was a child. To request prayer sounds like I can not handle things alone with God. Now I know how wrong I saw things. In my current church everything is else. And for years I know that I may ask for prayers . I do it sometimes. But in hard times I find myself falling back my old attitude. Thanks for this useful tips. This was a good blog, special for me.
So glad you enjoyed it Ariella. It is humbling to ask others for prayer, but that is quite alright. Thank you for visiting me. ~gina
Being vulnerable is difficult but necessary. Thanks for the encouragement.