Pray It Forward

There is a book and movie called “Pay It Forward” and the premise is that a 12-year-old boy, as part of a school assignment, decides to do three good deeds for people. When they ask him how they can repay him, he tells them to “pay it forward” by doing three good deeds for three other people. Pray It Forward is kind of a variation on this theme.

A Christian friend related his story of a morning run where he witnessed a magnificent sunrise. He was praising God for revealing the beauty of His creation, but at the same time he wished someone else had been there to see it. This could be an opportunity to “Pray It Forward.” When something great happens to you –- God reveals His glory in some way, you are cured of an addiction, you are filled with peace after hearing a sermon or reading a passage from your Bible – thank God for that moment, and at the same time ask God to share that same feeling with someone else. Maybe you can pray that a certain person will receive the same insight or peaceful feeling or whatever, or maybe you can pray for any person to receive it. Don’t keep all the good stuff for yourself but pray that God shares it with others.

I Googled “Pray It Forward” and the phrase is being used by a lot of people. It ranges from simple prayer to praying for three people to crassly commercial ploys to buy someone’s “Pray It Forward” workbook. What I’m suggesting is a little different. By praying to share the good things that happen to you with someone else, it requires you to 1) pray, and 2) remember that what happened was a gift from God (so you can thank Him for it at the same time). I think both of these will help me on my Christian journey.

And by the way, in a recent sermon at church, I felt like the Holy Spirit was talking directly to me. It was a great feeling. I praise God for speaking to me that way – and I pray that the same thing happens to you.