Prayer Request follow through?

[AlanFromWichita]

This morning I was thinking about prayer requests and prayer offerings.

If I say, “we’ll keep you in our prayers,” then as far as the other person concerned is that promise fulfilled in its very making?

As far as I’m concerned, if I say, “we’ll say a prayer for you tonight” the night before a surgery, then forget and pray it the following night instead, can God take those prayers back retroactively like Mary was Immaculate Conceived due to her son’s actions retroactively?

Since God is beyond time, I should think that prayer offerings deliver their value to their recipient in their making. Only if the recipient finds it was not made with sincerity maybe it could backfire. That way, as long as I’m not just taking it lightly when I make the promise, there has already been some temporal benefit from conveying the wish verbally from one human to another.

At least I hope so, because I forget things sometimes, and there’s one person in particular who had life threatening illness and told a friend he’d like to hear from me but I just remembered I was supposed to call him like months ago. I guess I was too distracted at the time. Now I have to send an email to find out if he’s even still alive.

If I ever say, “I’ll pray for you,” I like to take a moment or two as soon as possible, to say a silent prayer to myself so that I can guarantee I was not lying about my intent. Now of course I cannot promise to pray X prayer at X time in the future, except with God willing as a caveat.

I’ve thrown in a few things into this thread. Take it anywhere you wish, or let it die. Into God’s hands I commend this thread.

Alan

 

[puzzleannie]

since I have the memory of a mushroom, as soon as I promise to pray for someone, I pray at least a Hail Mary right then, or actually pray with the person if they permit it. I try to write the intention down before I forget (I have posties all over my prayerbook), in any case during intentions of LOTH AM and PM I always add “and for all those who have asked for prayer”.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

Thanks, puzzleannie. I hoped I wasn’t the only one like this. It’s hard to live in the present, remember past commitments, and control the future. The only answer: do everything right now.

Alan

 

[Marie]

I try and pray right then a short prayer for them. From then on, I turn over the memory problem to my guardian angel. My angel keeps track of the requests and I just add…“and for all those for whom I have promised to pray”…after that! Works for me!

 

[reen12]

-I try to say a prayer as soon as possible.

-I have a short list on my desktop

-As a “default postion”, I end prayers for others with,
“And please hear the unspoken cries of my heart.”

The last trusts God to remember those prayer intentions
that I made and, through human fraility, I may have forgotten.

Best,
reen12

 

[springbreeze]

Dear Alan

All things are Present to God. That concept has me constantly meditating on it, I find it so amazing. Every second we live in, in subsequent time is passing for us, but for God all time is the Present, it is ever Present before Him in His Eternal Self. God is forever in the Eternal moment and all things are Present to Him in that Eternal moment. Christ Jesus stands before God the Father ever pleading on our behalf with His Most Sacred and Blessed Wounds, the Crucifixion of His Son an ever present moment to God the Father. Now I can’t even describe it properly with words, so maybe someone else will come along who can do that and express for me what I am trying to convey. (hopefully they will! I’m very sorry I can’t express it very well). Perhaps one day if I continue to prayerfully consider this God will grace me some words to describe it.

Upshot is Alan, God knew you would pray that prayer for a particular person and applied the prayer considering it was in accordance with His Holy Will to that person when they needed the graces or favour at the time they needed them, even though you may have said the prayer after they needed the prayer, because all things are present to God in the Eternal moment. We are restricted by time, God is not.

I suppose though that is no reason to postpone prayer if we think and remember to do it as we have to live in the constraints of time, but it is a great consolation to know that if we genuinely forget to pray we can pray after the need when we remember and that prayer will be heard by God and granted in accordance with His Holy Will.

I often say a prayer offering all of my pasts sufferings and joys to God should I have ever forgotten some and not delivered all things into the hands of my Beloved Holy Trinity.

This is why Christ Jesus Passion is salvific for all time and all Eternity and why we can pray…‘Graciously have Mercy Lord God on all of the souls that have ever lived since You laid the foundations of the world and time, Amen.’

God Bless you always Alan and much love and peace to you

Teresa