Someone I know told me that listening is one of the most important skills in prayer.
In fact, she took a course in how to listen well to the people she was praying for.
I have never taken a listening course, but I probably should. As my wife can attest, much of what I hear flies through my mind without landing.
It's easy to make assumptions about people. Perhaps you have known the person for years and you make a quick diagnosis of his or her need. But, embarrassingly, you discover that's not what is on the person's heart.
Jesus did not make those assumptions. When people came to him, he asked them what they wanted him to pray about, even when the illness was obvious. He was seeking their commitment to seeking healing.
On the surface, that's what I do when I pray for people who come to me with problems. But often I don't take the time to probe a little more deeply.
I am learning that listening well involves observing as well as hearing. Is the individual evasive or direct? Does it appear that the person is telling the whole story or holding something back? Could that be important?
Of course, people involved in praying for others should be loving and understanding and never intrusive. But a sensitive question can reveal more than the surface comment.
Jesus also listened with spiritual ears. He was filled with the Holy Spirit from the moment he was baptized by John the Baptist and that gave him unusual knowledge about others.
For example, his conversation with a Samaritan woman at a well in John 4 led to an amazing discussion about himself as Messiah as a result of his insight into her past. She came to the well a woman far from God and she left filled with excitement, convinced she had met the Messiah.
This kind of knowledge is often given today in pictures or thoughts to people praying for others, although I cannot claim that myself. But I know of people who have had that experience.
In one case, a man I know had a picture of ice skates pop into his mind as he was praying for a woman. He asked her whether the picture had any meaning to her and she reacted by bursting into tears as it brought back a painful childhood memory. After prayer, she received emotional healing.
John Wimber, author of Power Healing, considered the interview of the person with the prayer need and the diagnosis of a prayer need to be keys to effective prayer.
I am learning that I can't be truly helpful in praying for others without listening actively.
In fact, she took a course in how to listen well to the people she was praying for.
I have never taken a listening course, but I probably should. As my wife can attest, much of what I hear flies through my mind without landing.
It's easy to make assumptions about people. Perhaps you have known the person for years and you make a quick diagnosis of his or her need. But, embarrassingly, you discover that's not what is on the person's heart.
Jesus did not make those assumptions. When people came to him, he asked them what they wanted him to pray about, even when the illness was obvious. He was seeking their commitment to seeking healing.
On the surface, that's what I do when I pray for people who come to me with problems. But often I don't take the time to probe a little more deeply.
I am learning that listening well involves observing as well as hearing. Is the individual evasive or direct? Does it appear that the person is telling the whole story or holding something back? Could that be important?
Of course, people involved in praying for others should be loving and understanding and never intrusive. But a sensitive question can reveal more than the surface comment.
Jesus also listened with spiritual ears. He was filled with the Holy Spirit from the moment he was baptized by John the Baptist and that gave him unusual knowledge about others.
For example, his conversation with a Samaritan woman at a well in John 4 led to an amazing discussion about himself as Messiah as a result of his insight into her past. She came to the well a woman far from God and she left filled with excitement, convinced she had met the Messiah.
This kind of knowledge is often given today in pictures or thoughts to people praying for others, although I cannot claim that myself. But I know of people who have had that experience.
In one case, a man I know had a picture of ice skates pop into his mind as he was praying for a woman. He asked her whether the picture had any meaning to her and she reacted by bursting into tears as it brought back a painful childhood memory. After prayer, she received emotional healing.
John Wimber, author of Power Healing, considered the interview of the person with the prayer need and the diagnosis of a prayer need to be keys to effective prayer.
I am learning that I can't be truly helpful in praying for others without listening actively.
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