Today's Passage:  1 Thessalonians 1

Who do you usually pray for?  I think if we are all honest, we usually pray for ourselves.  While there is certainly nothing wrong with asking God to help you (Neh 1), we should never be the primary focus of our prayers.  Notice how chapter 1 opens today.  It all has to do with praying for others as they do the Lord's work.  So right now jot some names of people who are doing the Lord's work that you can consistently pray for.

Alright, so we have the prayer list situated, but there is a bigger issue at hand.  The issue of what prayer is and why we do it.  At face value, prayer is simply communication with God.  On deeper level though it is begging and petitioning God to act.  There is obviously some significance here because the apostle Paul begs God to help others all the time.  While we certainly do not hold the power to change the world; we do know the Person who has the ability to change the world.  The prayers of God's people move Him into to action (i.e. Abraham, Moses, Jabez, Paul, and others).  Our prayers to God play a significant role in how God uses us and others in His story.  

So again I will ask, who are you praying for?  Hopefully after reading this chapter of Scripture, we will all pray for God to work in His people and in those who do not yet know Him.