Life-giving Prayers

How often do you tell people you will pray for them?  Is that enough?

If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God will give life to such a one—to those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin that is mortal; I do not say that you should pray about that.  - 1 John 5:16

At first glance, this reading from John seems to tell us that there are some sins that are so bad, there is no point in praying for those who commit them.

How do we know who to pray for and who not to pray for?

The problem is we really don't know the depths of someone's sins, do we?  Unless someone is sharing what troubles them with me, all I can do is make assumptions that lead to personal judgments.  And I have learned that my judgment is not always on target.

So, if there are sins so deep that they require more than my prayers, my desire to help is not going to be enough.  They have to be willing to do something as well.

John doesn't tell us not to pray for those who suffer from those deep, deadly sins.  He says he is not telling us to do it.

But we can pray that the Spirit comes upon that person and leads him to salvation by turning him around.

Addiction is one of those types of sins that lead the person into a self-destructive (mortal) spiral.  They may want to come out, but they feel they cannot do it alone.

I believe we should pray for them, that they seek help, but when they do ask for it, someone needs to be there to guide them.

That's where the Holy Spirit comes in.  My prayers may lead someone, even me, to be there in the moment, to catch the person when he falls and bring him to a meeting or someplace else where help is available.

To give a person life, we have to make a commitment.  We have to be there for them.  For some things are too hard to escape alone.

I know if I find myself in a mortal battle, my prayers of salvation would be for God to send someone.

Here I am, is what I want to hear someone say.

More to come...