by Susan Kent

“We never know how God will answer our prayers, but we can expect that he will get us involved in his plan for the answer. If we are true intercessors, we must be ready to take part in God’s work on behalf of the people for whom we pray.” – Corrie Ten Boom

Have you ever been picked up and carried? Not just as a child when your mom or dad picked you up but carried to the feet of Jesus because you couldn’t get there yourself? I think I’ve had a glimpse into what it must have been like for the man on the mat. Do you know the one? The paralyzed man whose life was relegated to a mat because he couldn’t move forward in his life or stand up for himself? (You can read his story in Luke 5:17-26.)

Many of us have found ourselves on the mat like that man, beaten down because our life turned upside down or thrown down by circumstances. And as we look around, we think there is no way we can get up by ourselves. But that man had a lifeline, he had a gift from God and that gift was friends. This man’s friends saw his condition and had compassion for him. They knew his only hope was to be taken to the feet of Jesus. So they carried him.

In my own life, I’ve been carried by friends to Jesus’ feet through prayer – intercessory prayer. It’s a powerful gift that God has given each of us to wield on behalf of another person, to plead and petition when that person has been knocked down and cannot even bear the weight of a prayer.

One of the profound experiences I’ve had receiving intercessory prayer was years ago after my husband passed away in a tragic accident. I had been existing in a fog and was trying to accomplish the simplest of tasks to care for myself and my son. As I began to learn how to function in my new normal, I was hesitant to share too much of my struggles with friends because I did not want to burden them.

One evening I was at a community event and just didn’t have the energy to mingle with others. I found myself sitting outside on an old picnic table with my mind whirling. I was at a loss for what to do and where to go. A sweet friend of mine came to sit with me because she knew what I needed. I needed to be carried to Jesus. She put her arm around my shoulder, spoke gently to me, and then prayed for me. She prayed words I didn’t have and through her petitions for God’s comfort and mercy the weight began to lift.

I still remember the power of those prayers, not because they were perfectly spoken or brilliantly crafted, but because they took me into the presence of Jesus.

We have the gift of prayer with us wherever we go and my guess is that you, like me, are surrounded by people who desperately need our prayers because they are lying on a mat and they cannot move forward on their own. Who are you praying for today? Who needs you to pick them up with your words of intercession? Can I encourage you to look with sensitive eyes this week for someone around you who needs you to use the gift God has given you?

Susan Kent is a pastor at The Woodlands UMC in The Woodlands, TX. She is a preacher, teacher, and author. She is married to Robert and they have four children. She wrote the Courageous Living, Living Hope and Forged in Friendship Bible studies. You can contact her with more information about these studies at [email protected]