Philemon 4 I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers.
Paul was thinking of Philemon when he expressed genuine gratitude to God for such a true friend. Do you have such a person in your life?
Truthful, trustworthy and in it for the long haul?not just when things are going good, are attributes to look for in a true friend. Plus, it has been said that to have a friend, you have to be a friend.
Do you have someone in your life that you can safely confide in? A man once said that he performed this experiment: He shared a secret with someone to see if the secret got out. If it did, he knew he could not trust this person; that he could not safely confide in this person.
Meanwhile, a real friend tells you the truth even when it hurts. Do you have someone in your life that holds you accountable? That will confront you if necessary? Is there someone in your life that is not afraid to tell you that you need an attitude adjustment? Do you have someone who would speak in your defense, if necessary? If you needed a new kidney, can you think of anyone you could go to and ask for one of theirs or that would volunteer a kidney before you even asked?
Finally, an old adage states that: If you can count the number of true friends on one hand at the end of your life, consider yourself richly blessed! Why not take a moment and assess your friendships? Who do you thank God for bringing into your life? But even more importantly: Who is thanking God for you right now?
My mother used to rise early every morning. It was in her blood. She could not sleep late and was too active to want to. The first thing she did after grabbing her coffee was to grab her Bible. After she had finished her devotional, she would pray for me and my siblings. I rested assured even when I did not deserve it that, if nobody else, my mother would be praying for me. I was using her. I was using her prayerlife because I was lazy in my own.
My mother passed away in 2000. I continue to flounder around in my prayerlife. The only person that I know of that prays for me often is an associate pastor at my church. He responds every week to anything I have requested prayer for. Every Wednesday in the mail will be a postcard from him with reassuring words that he is praying for me. I am so grateful for him and his prayers but do I reciprocate? He has needs just like I do but do I pray for him?
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