Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honourably in every way. 19 I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon.

In Ronald Dunn’s wonderful book: ‘Don’t just stand there, pray something’, he tells a story about a group of Sunday school children who wrote to a missionary along these lines:

‘Dear Rev Smith,

We are praying for you.

We are not expecting an answer.’

They were, of course, intimating that they didn’t need a reply. But how often do we pray without having any anticipation of anything changing?

According to our faith…??

In today’s passage I see a recognition of spiritual cause and effect. The writer seems to say, ‘You pray (cause), and something will happen in my circumstances (effect).’ As I have noted before, we don’t know that the Apostle Paul wrote Hebrews. It’s author is unknown. But this part of the letter feels Pauline. In Paul’s letters, he regularly requests his readers to pray for him, clearly believing their prayers will make a tangible difference.

In a book I have about spiritual leadership, the author emphasises how important it is that preachers should pray. He says, as I recall: before you preach, pray much about the service. Then when you run out of things to pray for the meeting, continue to pray about other things. It is so important, he argues, to enter the pulpit in a spirit of prayer.

PRAYER: Lord, cause us to be people of prayerful faith and faithful prayer.

THOUGHT: ‘Unprayed for, I feel like a diver at the bottom of a river, with no air to breathe; or like a fireman on a blazing building, with an empty hose.’ John Gilmour (Missionary to Mongolia).