I recently heard someone make a comment about “Mrs. Job”. It was in reference to a former pastor’s wife who called to share a prayer request. It seems that for the past several years this pastoral couple had been besieged by many health issues and subsequent financial and emotional needs, and they had called the church many times asking for prayer support.

This was not my pastor and wife, nor do I know people in the church. I’m sure that many are faithfully praying for this couple. At one point, someone probably made the comment that they must feel like Job and his wife as so many things seemed to be coming at them one right after the other. And the nickname “Mrs. Job” stuck.

As I’ve said before, I’ve had some health issues in the past and I’ve depended on my church family to pray me through them. Two weeks ago, I hurt my knee and this comment about Mrs. Job came to mind. I thought, “What will people think if I ask for prayer again?”

I almost didn’t ask for help, because I was afraid of what people might think. It was pride rearing its ugly head. Although I’m pretty sure they would have noticed me walking around on crutches, my first thought was to handle it by myself. I think all of us have fallen into this trap at one time or another. We don’t want to bother people. We wonder what they will think. We are afraid to show our weakness. We want to keep things private.

But God has given us the privilege to pray for one another (James 5:16) as well as for ourselves. Let’s remind people that we love to pray for them – no matter how often.

And to those of you who hesitate to share your prayer requests, consider what blessings you may be missing.