Somebody Prayed for me...

This was not the blog I intended to write this morning, that one will come some time next week… instead this is another reflection on a song.

There was a video posted on a Facebook group this afternoon that really struck me...

Now, I love the book of Psalms. No matter the mood I am in, I always find a psalm that soothes, calms, energises and inspires. The biblical poetry book as we know it originally were songs. Somebody prayed for me takes its origins from the communal lament psalms, that is to say a small collection of psalms which express deep sorrow and pray for God’s intervention. Many of these are attributed to David, and perhaps the one most closely aligned to the words of Somebody Prayed for me is Psalm 34, here are some words from vs 17 and 18 “When the righteous cry for the Lord, he hears and delivers them, The lord draws near to the broken-hearted and he saves the crushed and broken in spirit”

The song, for me talks, about the reassurance we have as Christ’s followers that even in the toughest of times, when we can’t face God, somebody somewhere is praying on our behalf, someone is bringing us into God’s presence, is pleading and talking with the Almighty, saying words that would not come to our lips.

That promise that as a Christian you are not alone and that we are all connected through prayer, even when we don’t know those prayers are being shared has become so much more important during the lockdown. Some people may be a long distance away from their home, and their home church. Yet through prayer they are brought far closer together than a social distance of one metre plus, because in God’s throne room, where we lay our petitions and prayers at his feet, there is no distancing needed.

When we say that we will pray for someone, we are walking with them, holding their hand, and bringing them to the Father. We are with them so closely in the spirit that the distance we are separated from each other melts away. Praying for somebody and bringing them before God is the greatest way we can be with someone at a distance, and it is my hope that those who have experienced this closeness through prayer during the lockdown will continue as restrictions are eased further. There is always something we can do for each other, and that is to pray.

So, when we can’t do anything else, when we can’t visit people or go into houses, when we can’t meet to worship together or hug family, we can still pray.

When we pray for somebody, somebody prays for us, and when we can’t pray, when we are broken physically or mentally or spiritually, someone somewhere will be praying.

“Someone was there, somebody cared, somebody prayed for me”