Bear one another's burdens

In my Navigator's guys' Bible Study this semester, we worked through Loving God, a short booklet by Susan Nikaido. At the end of the book, the author listed several suggestions to reinvigorate one's spiritual life. Too often, she wrote, spiritual disciplines evolve into mere routine and empty ritual, eventually leading to plain boredom.

Her advice ranged from practical (study a book of the Bible that you've never really looked at in depth before) to peculiar ("go on an ego fast" - for a day, don't use the words "I", "me", or "mine" to help set your focus on God and others). However, one bit of advice stood out to me as interesting and worthwhile: "Pray through the newspaper."

As you read the newspaper, pray about people and events. Remember
that politics, the law,economics, crime, and social issues all have
implications for us as Christians. Paul urged Timothy "that requests,
prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for
kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet
lives in all godliness andholiness" (I Timothy 2:1-2).
We should pray not only for political leaders, but also for cultural
leaders. You can also find issues that need prayer in the sports,
comic, entertainment, real estate, and travel sections. Instead of
frustration and despair, the newspaper should provoke prayer
(Nikaido, 81-2).

I read at least one print newspaper every day. In fact, sometimes I read several. I read the Indianapolis Star, the USA Today, the Indiana Daily Student and, on occasion, the New York Times. I read ESPN.com frequently, BBC.co.uk occasionally. The point is not to say that I read the newspaper a lot! (I do...) It's to show how much I've missed in opportunities for prayer. As I read, I could be praying for all sorts of things.

In politics, I could be praying for the Presidential election and that the right candidates would get elected. In headline news, I could be praying for comfort for the families of the Omaha shopping mall tragedy and that this event would draw people close to God. Similary, in sports, I could be praying concerning the murder of Sean Taylor, that the family be comforted and that God be glorified in this situation. Think of a news story and I guarantee there's a prayer request to be found somewhere within.

I'm sure all of you read some news every day. Might we all be missing this opportunity?

I find it easy to pray for myself. "God, please help me on this test" or "Thank you for what you did for me." And sometimes I even pray for friends and family and such. That's not a bad thing at all! But I was further reminded this morning that I should be praying for all kinds of people when I read Galatians 6 in my quiet time. "Bear one another's burdens," Paul writes, "and thus fulfill the law of Christ."

Will this concept reinvigorate someone's spiritual life? Maybe. Maybe not. It might reinvigorate someone's prayer life. For me, it has at least shown a whole new perspective on prayer that I'd never seriously considered before.

Your thoughts?