There may be a lot of things you can’t do to relieve suffering, help others, make the world a better place, proclaim the gospel or work toward the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God.

But you can pray.

You can pray for your fellow commuters, fellow workers, customers, clients, patients, suppliers, visitors, office neighbors, family, friends, church, city, state, nation, world.

You can pray for newborns, babies, toddlers, children, pupils, students, graduates, applicants, candidates, professionals, laborers, retirees, the aged, the dying and the dying inside.

You can pray for the healthy, the ill, the confused, the distressed, the hungry, the hopeless, the helpless, the depressed, the damaged, the deserted, the bereaved, the forgotten, and the lost.

You can pray for the public servant, the private tutor, the teacher, the instructor, the professor, the administrator, the honest, the dishonest, the learned, the learning, the giver and the recipient.

You can pray for the pastor, elder, shepherd, deacon, servant, minister, preacher, leader, member, seeker, saint, rebel, mentor, questioner, enforcer, incarcerated, the free and the enslaved.

You can pray for people you know and people you don’t.

You can pray for your friends. You can pray for your enemies.

You can pray for angry people, hateful people, evil people, nasty people, people opposed to God, people who don’t believe in God, people who don’t want to believe in God, ever, because it might mean having to give up on their self-dependence and self-indulgence in a world that has perhaps blessed them and/or perhaps let them down in every way possible.

You can pray for justice. You can pray for mercy. You can pray for a humble walk with God.

You can pray for the Kingdom to enter hearts with force and tenderness and love. You can pray to be part of it.

You can pray for gifts for others. You can pray for gifts for yourself.

You can pray for greater understanding, more compassion, increased courage, elevated awareness of others, deeper love, heart-baring compassion, a cascade of opportunities, and a bottomless reservoir of spiritual wealth to share with all you meet.

You can pray for time and energy and willingness to use them when given.

You can pray for peace of heart, peace of mind, peace among neighbors, peace on earth, peace with God.

You can pray and pray and pray and pray.

And then you can be part of God’s answer.

He will answer. You may not like His answer. It may not come at the time you want it to come. It may sweep you off your feet and engulf you in a life you never dreamed possible, for your good but perhaps not for your comfort – but certainly for the good of those you encounter.

You can pray to enter into partnership with God through Christ, sustained by their Holy Spirit, to do good works that He has created beforehand for you to do and for which He created you.

You can pray timidly or dangerously.

You can pray for healing for others, but you can pray for healing for yourself, too.

You can pray that others will be blessed with greater insight and understanding of God’s will for them, but you can pray that for yourself, as well.

You can pray morning, noon and evening. You can pray without ceasing. You can live your life as a prayer, a sweet-smelling savor of incense burning in the hearts of God’s saints, pleasing to His senses.

You can.

You can.