I got a prayer request from a friend last week; the only thing is she didn’t tell me what the request was. She simply asked me to join her in praying. I found out later she accidentally hit the “send” button without realizing it. God works in beautiful ways.
I took her request and simply prayed the Lord would give me the words necessary to pray through her need or move on her behalf without me knowing the details. After all, I didn’t need to know the details, because God knew the details. God was the only one who could help her with what she needed.
Today she sent another email sharing how God had moved in her life and given her a clear word about how she was to respond in her situation. I laughed out loud. God is so good. He had answered her prayers and mine.
So many times we feel we need to know the details about other people’s business and we inquire under the guise of a prayer request. What we’re really caught up in is not a holy mission. It’s gossip. Let’s be honest. We’ve all done it. The enemy takes our good intentions and dirties them up a bit and before we know it, we are caught in the muck.
All through the book of Proverbs there are warnings about gossip…how it destroys friendships, breaks confidences and keeps quarrels fueled. It serves no good purpose.
In 2 Corinthians 12:20, Paul is writing to the church of Corinth and he is blunt about his fears for them, “For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.” Do not allow the slimy serpent to lead you down a path you don’t choose. Press in to the things of God. Intercede for others when asked and take whatever information they give you- even if it’s nothing at all- and pray into it trusting the Father will know what to do.