“But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” Mt. 6:6
I don’t have the greatest memory, I cross paths with tons of people regularly, I have a heart for the Lord and for ministry above all else, and love Him beyond measure, and have an extreme love of people because of Him, so it’s not at all uncommon that I pray for people all the time. All sorts of people, from all sorts of places, who are in all sorts of situations, facing all sorts of stuff, in need of finding Christ, of following Him, in need of His love, in need of help and support, in need of prayer. So I pray. And pray. And pray. I pray for myself, for forgiveness and mercy, to bear the fruits of following Jesus, to be more like Him, to be refined and transformed, to walk in His love and to be humble, to love and serve Him as He desires, and continually I pray for a world filled with people in dire need of Jesus. That’s how I found myself one night for about the third time in days past praying for the hairdresser. And that’s when it happened. I realized how important it is I tell others, like yourself, that we need to pray for the hairdressers of this world. The hairdressers? Yes!
How so? That they get good haircutting jobs? That they give good haircuts? That they don’t mess up people’s hair? No, though there’s nothing wrong with praying that if the Lord so leads. We need to pray for the hairdressers of this world. And here’s what I mean.
I don’t keep prayer lists like some of my friends do. I simply pray as best I can as the Lord leads me for the people I believe He leads me to pray for when He leads me to pray for them. Whoever they may be, loved ones, friends, people in ministry, whole groups of people like kids being sexually abused, the government, people being treated for cancer, the unsaved who need to repent and give their lives to Christ, America, and the hairdressers of this world. What I mean by that is the total strangers in need of prayer. People we don’t know. Those we’ve never met, and may never meet. Whether they’re nearby, far away, anywhere at all. Whomever. Wherever. Whenever. As the Spirit of God leads us. Why am I calling them the hairdressers of the world?
I am blessed with many friends, and constantly it seems we ask one another to pray for each other and for others with whom we cross paths. That’s how I ended up praying for a hairdresser. I don’t have the greatest memory, and one day all I could recall is one of my friends had asked me to pray for her hairdresser. So I did. Not just once. But several times. At different times. When the hairdresser came to mind and I felt led to pray for her. It didn’t matter whose hairdresser she was. It didn’t matter I knew I would probably never meet her. It just mattered a hairdresser needed prayer.
We live in a world in which we all need prayer. Do you think it matters to God who prays for the hairdresser, or most importantly that people are praying for her? Somehow it seems I got assigned to pray for her, so I did.
Is it possible we get so caught up in ourselves, and in our own little worlds, that we pray for those we love and those we frequently see, and neglect to realize there’s a whole world filled with people needing prayer? And that many of those people may have nobody praying for them at all? Is it possible people we don’t even know have prayed for us through the years? Very possibly, if not probably so.
Is it not selfish of us to limit ourselves to those who are a big part of our lives when it comes to prayer? Should we not simply pray as God’s Spirit leads us, and, as one of my friends says, as He brings people to mind? That hairdresser matters to the Lord just as much as anyone else, don’t you think?
Perhaps we need to expand our horizons when it comes to prayer, and let the Lord determine whom to pray for, how to pray, and when to pray, trusting Him to answer as He desires for His glory.
Please pray for the hairdressers of this world. In other words, please pray exactly as the Spirit of God so leads you, when He leads you to pray, how He leads you to pray, for whom He leads you to pray, including for the hairdressers of this world. In Christ’s name. For God almighty’s glory! Amen.