All of life is better when we pray our way through it. Prayer is the means by which we stay in constant contact with God and it enables us to keep a proper perspective on everything else. This principle works in face to face relationships and also in our online interactions.

As I write these words I am sitting in an airport watching people on their mobile devices…scrolling, scrolling, scrolling, scrolling…you get the idea. Have you ever considered that your social media feed can be a prayer prompter?

What if we turned the posts we read into a prayer list, asking the Lord to work in the lives of those that we love and in the situations of many we may never meet. I am sure of this: we would all think differently about people and would respond differently to others if we were actively praying for them!

Try it for yourself…

• Pray for hurting people. Every day we see the reports of people who are sick, sad, or suffering in some way. This should stir more than pity; it should drive us to breathe a prayer to God for them. When difficulties come to our attention this is an assignment to intercede. One advantage of social media is the ability to pray in real time with those who are in need.
• Pray for leaders. How quick we are to criticize and how slow to agonize. Ask the Lord to give wisdom and peace in the lives of those who lead – it affects us all (1 Timothy 2:1-4)! In fact, all “news” in these troubled times should encourage us to call upon the One who is above and over all.
• Pray for enemies. Sadly, social media often devolves into a platform for criticism and argument. The Lord Jesus taught, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). Pray for those you may have conflict with – and don’t go looking for conflict! Some people treat the imprecatory Psalms as their favorite, but we should be reminded that David’s prayer for judgment was only against the enemies of God who had set themselves against him. Social media is not the place to air grievances, but it can motivate us to take our grievances to God in prayer.
• Pray for those who are away from God. Our hearts hurt to see people moving further from Christ. As you see the words of those who do not know the Lord or are straying from Him, stop and call their name to God. Our greatest response is always prayer.

Scrolling through social media can very easily become a “mindless” habit. Even worse, it can affect our spirit and cause us to slip into fleshly reactions. We must constantly guard our hearts and seek to give ourselves to a Spirit-led response.

In the words of the prophet, “Mine eye affecteth mine heart” (Lamentations 3:51). Don’t just scroll through social media – pray your way through.

(For additional ideas on how to use social media click here.)