Shares are not Prayers

I understand the motivation behind sharing a post requesting prayers, and there is nothing wrong with it. It reminds us to stop being selfish, think about others, and to approach the throne of God. The more people who see it, the more people will pray. I get it. There is a struggle, though. Whether we see it in ourselves or not. It's the common struggle of promising prayers and then forgetting.

I'm ashamed to say that I have shared information, not always on social media. I would call or text someone, or catch them in the hallway at work to let them know they needed to pray for someone else. In my mind, there was concern, sure, but after I told the "news," I carried on with my day, knowing that as soon as I had a chance, I would pray. I would call on the Holy Spirit for comfort and strength, plead with God that his will be done, and speak the names of the requesters to the Heavenly Father. 

But I didn't do that. So often, my day continued with its busyness until I fell asleep, every worry of the day drifting away. Even that one.

It happened too many times before I realized what was going on and reasoned that, if a million people hear or see my request and share it, so more people will hear and see it, and no one has a conversation with God—what did we just do?

I know, I know. You're not like me. You don't forget to pray. You share the request with the same good intentions I had and then you live up to them. You pray with vehemence and passion. Trust me, I believe you.

This post is for me. A reminder to myself that, while it can be helpful to share, if the requester has given permission for us to share, I really have no way of knowing what anyone else will do with someone's prayer request, and my priority should be to pray. If I can take a moment and tell someone else, I can take a moment and tell it to my God. And if I can't stop everything at that very moment, which is totally understandable, then I need to set an alarm in my phone, write it in my planner, tie a string around my pinkie, take a Sharpie to my arm, put a sticky note on my shirt—something to make it impossible to forget. 

Because shares are not prayers.