My email was supposed to be a prayer request, but it started out sounding more like an apology. Although we needed friends to pray, I was hesitant to ask because I didn’t want my request to be a burden for anyone.
A few years ago my husband J.J. was having health problems and needed to have a liver biopsy. His doctor told us it was precautionary, so we weren’t sure if it would end up being anything serious in the end. And that made me hesitant to tell people about it. Yet I knew I didn’t want to walk through it alone or in my own strength.
Fifteen minutes after I sent my email, several friends started telling me they were praying. Not only did my friends pray – they thanked me for sharing what was going on and for letting them be there for me.
For someone who hates to impose on others, I need to remember that asking for prayer isn’t about putting burdens on my friends. Asking for prayer is about letting our friends walk by our side down a path that we were never intended to walk alone. {today’s post is a partial excerpt from my #AConfidentHeart #Devotional book}
Is it hard to ask others to pray for you?
Let’s stretch ourselves today and let others walk beside us in prayer by sharing a burden and then praying for one another. Briefly share one things we can pray for you by clicking “Share Your Heart” below this post. Then leave a prayer or say “I’ve prayed for you” under the request left before yours. Ready.Set.Pray.
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My prayer request is for myself you see I have to go to court today in about 30 mins to be exact. Last year my niece was being bullied and I stepped in and defended her. Well the person filed charges against me which I never knew about until this February. In short I’ve never be in court before or arrested for that matter so I’m unsure how this will turn out. I know in my heart I did nothing wrong but yet here I am. So please pray that these charges are dismissed. Thank you. Gods blessing and love shine upon you.
John 9:2-5 New Living Translation (NLT)
2 “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”
3 “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. 4 We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us.[a] The night is coming, and then no one can work. 5 But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”
Jesus is our Strength through the storms. Keep your eyes on Him and not the wind and waves around you and your loved ones. May God Bless you all and cover you with His peace and love.
Wow this is just wonderful. Ms. Jan I prayed for your son and for you. I have a son also and though he is young (10years old) I have the same feelings about him. He will always be my little boy. I love him soo. Be encourage in The Lord your son is covered by Gods grace and favor because of you.
Thanks so much!!
Also, I hope your day in court went well!
Wow, I have so many things I would love for people to pray for me about but that would be a potential burden for sure! Thanks Renee for the opportunity to share here and I have prayed for you, too!
My one prayer request for today, however, was sparked by Carline, the previous person I prayed for who is struggling with some concerns with her son.
I have a son whom I love so much! He has been a blessing since the day he was born. He is now 21, loves God, attends college away from home, makes good grades, plays football, loves making people laugh and sometimes is a little more mischievous as a young man can be at his age than I’d like. This son whom I love so dearly recently announced that if he didn’t soon know what he wanted to do in life by his senior year (a junior now), he was going to join the military after college. Now as I begin to imagine him in uniform even further from home my heart aches for a different decision. Please pray for him to find God’s guidance in this and for me to have peace with whatever God has planned for this wonderful little boy of mine. He will always be my little boy. Thanks so much!
Hi Carline. I prayed for you and each member of your family! Keep the faith and don’t give up! A family friend of mine always parts by saying ” Keep looking up”! Soooo… Keep looking up, sweet sister!
Hi,
I have been praying for months now for my son to stop hanging around the wrong people and to start seeking God. I’ve tried to talk to him but all he does is just lie….I can’t just pick up my stuff and move out of Houston… Every time I pray, the worst the situation gets. I don’t know what to do anymore… This dilemma has put a real dent between my husband and I since this is his step son. I feel like I’m torn between two people I love dearly. I feel like giving up…. My prayer is that he changes his way and that he finds a job soon…
My 20 year old son quit college and still can’t find a job. (He always got good grades in school.) I’m so sad that he quit college and I keep wanting to say “I told you so!” as for his inability to find a job. I’m so ashamed that he quit, I try to change the subject when people ask how he’s doing. My prayer request is for him to find a job that suits his shy personality and for me to accept his decision to go a non-traditional route.
Praying for your family Sara and your stepdaughter’s mom!!!
I am praying for the mom of my stepdaughter that the Holy Spirit would shower her with grace so she is able to see good in the Heavenly Father’s earth. She is overly negative and tries to control our time and creates chaos where there doesn’t need to be any. I pray that she listens to you Lord, and your direction for her life for surely you would want the very best of her as a mother and wife. Please also be with my stepdaughter so she too listens to your Word and prayerfully follows you as her guide. AMEN.
Dear MJS, If I could see you, I would give you a hug and the opportunity to cry, yell or just be. Grief has no time limit. Somedays are better than others, I am sure you can see his smile through the glistening tears, or as you remember the joy of hearing his voice. Father God, I pray for MJS that you will become so real to her, that you will ease her lonliness and the pain o this loss. Lord allow MJS to feel compassion and empathy towards others. Send new friends into her life. In Jesus name.
As far as forgiveness goes, these words are between you and God, it goes like this, Lord, I chose to forgive ____________for _______________ and it made me feel _____________.
This sentence has changed my life. Be sure to say it out loud and be sure to say how you really feel, if it makes you angry then say it makes you feel anger.
I hope this helps, but God had me read your comment. He knows where you are at and He loves you. Blessings…..Diana
I may be too late, and no one may even read this, but it feels good just to get this out anyway. I lost my only son almost 2 years ago. He was 21 years old. The grief and pain are still so fresh! You really learn who your friends are and more importantly who they are not when you go through a tragedy like this! Christian friends who I thought would have been right by my side told me to “get over it”…”life goes on”…”you’re being weak”, “you’re being selfish”… This has just compounded my grief and pain! One in particular is now going through a struggle in her own family, and this has made it very hard for me to have any kind compassion (even a little) for her…I don’t like being this way! Please pray that I can have forgiveness for EVERYONE that has said even the smallest unkind thing to me regarding my grief even though not one has ever offered one word of an apology to me. Please pray that I can show compassion to those who have shown none to me. I am really struggling with this right now!
My heart really hurts reading your pain and those who have been so harsh towards your personal tragedy. May GOd comfort you, Rest assured, He meets you exactly where you are! I will keep you in prayer throughout my day/weeks to come. I know and TRUST that God can be your comforter and He wants to do nothing short of heal your deep pain in losing your son. God bless you and hang in there…
I hope it’s not too late to add my need for prayer. I’ve been having some turmoil over some extended family matters. My parents have been placed in a nursing home ( Dad passed last month) and my sister has been named trustee of their estate. She is claiming everything is hers out of their house which she moved to her home and has been defensive and angry at me and my brother about dividing it as my Mom has spoken to us about. There’s more to the estate and it’s gets complicated but I’m afraid she’s trying to steal the rest of it.
She acts as if she hates me. Yet she’ll be nice if she wants something. It’s broken my heart. For she doesn’t seem like my sister any more. Please pray for me for God’s grace and cover. I am praying and learning to trust and obey Him in whatever He wants me to do. I have been angry over this but now just heartbroken and sick. So glad we can pray for one another. As I read some of the prayer needs above I send my prayers as well!
Royal diadem-
All my life i looked for approval from my family.
I grew up in a small town in michigan. My father and i never got along. My mother always backed him. I was the black sheep. I always felt like the odd ball. Looking for approval in all directions. Friends..family…coworkers.. Never felt like i could make anyone proud. But guess what we dont need approval from ANYONE. the only ONE person we need it from is GOD. and God approves of us every day. Ill be praying for u. You are a determined and confident person dont fear. Speak it into existense. You are a confident person!
I am afraid and I know fear is not from the Lord. I am afraid that I will fail a leader (my sister thinks I will & even that makes me sad that she thinks so little of me.) I’m afraid I’ll be jobless soon. Pray for me that I remember fear is not from the Lord and that God’s perfect love drives out all fear.
TO ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE POSTED: i have prayed for everyone of you and asking for prayer too
In 2012 i was in a turmoil of life with consequences still occurring. I have come to realize my way is not the right way. Im looking for a relationship with God. Its exciting. My husband and i are trying to repair our marriage. We had. A chain of events that have put us in different houses. He has a relationship with god and i lost when it comes to that relationship with god. I went to ignite where i heard renee talk about her life and how she become a cofident godfident child of god. Renee you have sparked my fore and i want to ignite into a christian child of God. So excited but i need prayers. I am going through a somewhat seperation and a child custody battle from my ex and really trying to juggle all the plates. I dont like this worldy life of i can do it. I meed u to pray for my family and for me to stay focused on this joirney i am beginning. I dont want to fall off the path that God has been calling to me. We get uncomfortable and we tend to go back to the norm. I want to stay uncomfortable and be a christian. God bless yal and all of your stories show that people of all kinds and all situations need extra prayer. Yal have touched me in a way u will never know. Thanks!
Thank you,Renee, for this opportunity to share our hearts and be prayed over. I have one of those lives that if a movie was written about it people would think it was fiction because nobody goes through all that in one life!
I ask for prayer because I feel like I was not a good mom. My siblings and my husband’s siblings children all seem to be on the right track while my 20-something children are still struggling with getting their education and appearing to be on track with taking care of themselves financially. I know I shouldn’t compare but every time we have family get togethers, it hits me all over again.
Pray that I would see my children through God’s eyes and that my focus would be more on showing Christ in my life so that they would desire this to guide their lives as well and that He would become first in their lives (& my husband’s).
Im praying for you “waiting on God” – praying praying praying. Praying for you to know He’s not disappointed in you, and its not your fault for the ways your loved ones are struggling right now. Keep loving them, encouraging them, praying for them and cut the strings between your identity and their performance. They are His – He gave them to you to love and guide but the results are really in His hands and theirs’. And remember, God is the perfect parent – yet look at how his kids turned out and turned away from Him. (i.e.. the garden). Be kind to yourself and let’s keep asking Him to help you see them through His eyes.
I prayed for you, Bridgette, and ReNell. I pray that You feel God’s presence and peace in your heart while you are waiting for His answer and clear direction. May you be surrounded with His love and held up.
I am a single mom with 2 teenagers. I have no friends no companion no to talk to. I have been alone for 8 years. I am lonely. I have completely withdrawn myself from people. I recognize I’m not helping but I feel like people will know the real me the me thats been in pain hurtin me.
Im praying for you right now ReNell. Im proud of your for being brave and sharing your needs and hurts here. Isolation is not a safe place. Alone is not where God wants you to be. But it’s exactly where the enemy wants to convince you to stay. Can I encourage you with something that God challenged me with years ago when I felt very alone.
Today, look for one person who needs a little encouragement and encourage them. Look for another who might need to see a smile, and smile at them. In very simple, low-risk ways, give away what you long for. Want to be noticed? Notice someone. Wish someone would say something kind to you. Give a small compliment to the next drive-through worker who serves you. Offer just a hand-full of what you wish you had. And watch God come alive through you. That is where true life and joy and companionship are found – when we get just brave enough to give a little bit away.
Im praying for big surprises of joy and laughter to come your way. Im asking Jesus to show up and show YOU His heart in this next week. Im praying for a break-through for you. Love you sister. You are not alone!!
Please, please pray for me. I need a better life than I am living now. I want to go to university. I don’t have the money or the credentials to get in. Please pray for a miracle that God would do the impossible for me. I am at the end of my rope.
I prayed for you Bridgette. Im praying for God’s favor and open doors. And if not the door you want then another that has great meaning and purpose. You are loved!!
I am praying for your son even now. I understand personally from deal with cancer a few years ago how much the prayer support of others helped both me and may husband get through that time.
I am also learning when a friend shares a need to say, “Can I pray with you right now rather than walk away after promising to pray later. It works, touches the person and you feel God’s presence and know it is what He would want you to do. I will continue to keep your son and family in my prayers. Mary
thank God for this opportunity to share this. Am of marriageable age and no suitor yet and i strongly belief in his word that says it is not good for man to be alone and also He God has placed the lonely into Family. I dont want to go through 2014 without settling in my Home and with my God ordained husband that God can talk to in Jesus Name…..
Praying for you Lina and for God to bring you a man who loves you and Loves Jesus even more!