The apostle Paul challenged Christians to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thes.5:17 NAS). The Amplified Bible states the scripture as “Be unceasing in prayer-praying perseveringly”. I pray often, but I must fall way short of “unceasingly”.  I mentally can say I would like to pray over EVERY situation, EVERY circumstance, and all day, everyday regardless. But in reality I don’t.

The one thing that I have disciplined myself in over the years is PICKUP PRAYERS. What I mean by pickup prayers is that I pray for people, families, businesses and situations when I’m driving around in my pickup truck. When I pass by a location  where I know the resident or owner or any specific situation about that place, I pray.

I know this sounds strange, but my life was totally changed one day when a friend shared with me that he had prayed for me every time he passed by my house for years. I was raking my alfalfa field that afternoon when he just saw me, stopped and came up and just started encouraging me. I was telling him about all the good things the Lord was doing in my life at that time and he humbly shared that he had been praying for me every time he passed the house. I was amazed that someone was praying for me without me even knowing about it. My friend was not praying for his own benefit but mine.

I began to pray for people as I passed by their homes and businesses in my pickup. If you have ever own a pickup, it’s hard to ever be without one. It was easy to pray this way for me. Many times the prayer was simple - Lord, bless this family or business. Sometimes I was aware of specific needs and the Holy Spirit would lead me in a brief, yet specific, prayer.

I make every effort to find out where people live, work and play. When I pass by or happen to be in that place, I pray. I pray for our church members everytime I go through the membership list. I’m not in the pickup when I’m going through lists, but when I see their name, I pray.

I recently was in a casual meeting with the owner of a local business. We were just catching up with what was going on in our lives. He was aware that my dad passed away recently and had not seen me since his passing. He was trying to check me out and minister to me. As we talked he began to share about some of his personal struggles and I had a chance to minister to him. I shared that I would add this to my prayers for his business. He was very surprised that I had been praying for years for him and his business every time I passed by in my pickup truck. I just had something new to add to my brief prayer each time I passed by.

I pass a lot of PLACES every day in my pickup travels around Griffin. I pray for a lot of people in a day’s time. It’s neither hard nor burdensome. Do I pray without ceasing? I’m not sure. But one thing I believe with all my heart is that when I simply bless someone or lift them up in prayer, the Lord God Almighty, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are released to act on their behalf. I may never see any effect on the prayers, but I sincerely hope and believe that the Lord will bless them all, because He loves them more than I could ever know.

So, if you see me riding around your house or passing by you on the street in my pickup, be assured that I’m asking the Lord to bless, keep and guide you.

Keith Wesley