The Best Advice I Can Possibly Give

Here at the REAP Team International Headquarters we regularly receive email and Facebook messages from teenagers who are seeking advice.  Sometimes they desire this advice for themselves, but just as often they are seeking some wisdom as to how to help out a friend – a friend who is having a hard time and is perhaps having problems with parents, friendships, eating disorders, forgiveness, drugs, cutting, depression, unhealthy relationships, sexual activity, masks, or a variety of other things.  We have even posted some of these questions and our responses to them on our website here. 

Even though specific advice can vary based upon the unique situation someone is in, the best and most foundational advice I can possibly give to anyone who wants to help a friend is to bring their concern - and their friend - to God in prayer. 

In today’s world, I know that some might gloss over this advice, finding it kind of lame or old-fashioned.  Others might think that I advise them to pray because I work for the church and that’s just what churchy people do.  But that’s not it.  Not at all.  There are two important reasons I encourage everyone to pray for their friends who are troubled.

The first reason is explained in this very powerful quote from Peter Kreeft -

I strongly suspect that if we saw all the difference even the tiniest of our prayers make, and all the people those little prayers were destined to affect, and all the consequences of those prayers down through the centuries, we would be so paralyzed with awe at the power of prayer that we would be unable to get up off our knees for the rest of our lives.

As Mr. Kreeft states so beautifully, there is something extremely powerful that happens when we pray.  And though I don’t totally understand how it all works, I do know deep in my heart that God listens to our prayers - and that when we pray God often does mysteriously wonderful and miraculous things for our loved ones.

The second reason I encourage people to pray is because in prayer we can receive an incredible gift - the heart and mind of Jesus about any situation.   Yes, it’s true.  One of the fruits of a faithful prayer life is that God can give us the ability to have incredible love and compassion for our friends - and God can even give us the gift of being His voice, saying just the right words at just the right time to the people that we love. 

Many of us have perhaps been in situations where the right words were spoken at the wrong time and it just made a mess out of things.  Or when the wrong words are spoken at the right time, there is even more damage.  However, being in prayer keeps us in touch with the Spirit of Truth who can arrange our thoughts and words in such a way that they are just the right words at just the right time, filled with the power and wisdom of God – which is ultimately what all of our friends most need.

So if you have a friend who is struggling, pray for them!  It really is the best advice I can possibly give.