Matthew West Reminds Believers to Pray for Others
By Movieguide® Contributor
Christian singer and songwriter Matthew West recently shared a message about the importance of praying for others.
“It is so easy to become so self-focused on a daily basis. This self-centered way of living can even make its way into my prayer life,” he said on his podcast.
“Even when I’m talking to God, I can sometimes be guilty of just staying in His presence long enough to read my laundry list of needs and wants for, you guessed it, me, myself and I.”
West explained that God does care about our needs, but we also need to think about others.
He shared how during his “Don’t Stop Praying” tour, he would have people post their prayer requests on a prayer wall in the lobby. He also has a prayer wall on his website.
“I would invite the crowd to join me in praying for the needs of those in the audience,” he shared. “I was filled with confidence that we serve a mighty God who knows each need and is at work in every life.”
West also shared that he tries to live by the acronym JOY, which stands for “Jesus, others and yourself.”
“We discover joy when our priorities are in the right order. Jesus first, then others, and ourselves last,” he said.
“If we take our eyes off of ourselves long enough, we will find no shortage of people who need us,” West shared.
“God loves you and cares for you. He wants you to bring your needs to Him. Don’t get that twisted, remember that. Your needs matter…but my encouragement for you today is to ask God to help you think of yourself less,” West said.
The singer encouraged his listeners to visit his website and pray for someone they don’t know. His prayer wall can be found here.
He hopes his song “Don’t Stop Praying” also inspires people to invite God into their daily lives.
“We’ve all been to a place where discouragement can make us wonder if God really hears our prayers. I wrote this song for anybody who’s ever felt like giving up or losing their faith,” he said on Instagram. “Pray for our families, for our friends, for our enemies, for our nation, for our world.”
Movieguide® previously reported on West’s call to pray for our country:
Last Monday, Christian music artist Matthew West took to X to respond to President Biden after he declared March 31—Easter Sunday—as Transgender Day of Visibility.
West replied, “Dear Mr. President, Yesterday was EASTER SUNDAY. As for me and my house, the only thing celebrated on 3/31 was a risen Savior who died and rose again to take away the sins of the world. Praying for our nation to return to ‘one nation under God,’ & for our leaders to display better wisdom than this.”
The singer addressed the matter in his latest podcast episode, “What is this World Coming to?”
“I feel like my prayer life can resemble the weather in Nashville these last couple days,” West began. “Wherever the wind blows, you know what I mean? And that’s okay. I think stream-of-consciousness prayers and just things that pop into your head you think to pray about that. But sometimes praying for my nation and my leaders doesn’t pop into my head often enough.”
“Instead, what pops into my head when I think about the state of our nation, the state of our country, the state of our world, the state of our leaders is I worry,” he continued. “And then, you know, I probably get angry too.”
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