Philippians 1:3-4 - "I'm praying for you" ...Really?

How many times have you been talking to someone who is going through a crisis, and --as you part ways-- you say, "I'll be praying for you." You sincerely meant it at the time, but you see them a week later and realize, "Oops... I didn't really pray for them." If it happens to me, I figure it happens to others.

How about keeping a prayer list? If that works for you, great. Me? My prayer lists tend to drift downstream like New Year's resolutions. Smart phones can be set up with alarm reminders, but there are only so many "prayer alarms" I can handle.

Let me suggest some alternatives...

I had a pastor that never promised, "I'll keep you in my prayers." But he would often wrap up a conversation with, "Let me pray for you," and he would do so, on the spot, regardless of where we were at the time.

I once knew a traveling Bible teacher and his wife. They were an elderly, godly people who knew many, many people around the country. I figured that their prayer list must have been huge. How did they manage to consistently pray for so many people?

They had no list. Instead, at the beginning of the day, they would pray together and simply ask God to remind them throughout the day of people they should pray for. Maybe that's what Paul meant when he told the Philippian Christians, "Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. 4 Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy." (Philippians 1:3–4, New Living Translation, 2015)

Father in heaven, you've blessed me with people in my life. Turn my heart from merely having fond memories to actually thanking you for those individuals. And move my thanksgiving into praying for their needs. Nudge my heart with anyone You want me to pray for today. In Jesus name, Amen.