It’s Okay to Ask

Author: Tyke Schubert

Galatians 6:2—Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

It’s hard to ask for prayer … I don’t want to beat around the bush. We take our prayers to God and often don’t go any further. We don’t seek out our fellow believers.

We say and think things like:

“They’ll judge me for this.”

“I’ll lose all of my friends if I say this.”

“I’m a man; I’m not supposed to ask for prayer.”

“I’m a mom; I don’t have the energy or time for someone to pray over me.”

“That would require me to do something, and I’m too anti-social to do that.”

We make excuses upon excuses to avoid prayer.

In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” Jesus clearly states that we should go to God in prayer; we know that, but the Bible also says that we should pray over one another.

James 5:16-18 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months, it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit," and in Galatians 6:2, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

The Bible clearly tells us to pray over one another, but if people don’t know what to pray for, they cannot properly pray for or over you. Because of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, we are the body and bride of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 states, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit." Just as in the body, we must take care of every part and piece. If our leg gets broken, we put a cast on it; if we get a deep cut, we get stitches; or if we get a scrape on the hand, we put a band-aid on it.

So, if we take care of our own bodies, why would we shy away from being a part of taking care of the body of Christ? How can we bear one another’s burdens if we’re not sharing our struggles with one another?

Yes, it’s difficult to ask for prayer, but when you ask, you fulfill God’s plan for His people.

Reflection

1. What is stopping you from sharing your needs with others?

2. Who is someone you can start sharing your prayer requests with?