Here is a lovely new song our friend Charlie Johnston wrote this year. “Pray With Me” is a personal invitation to get in on the joy, peace and fellowship that go along with partnering with each other in Kingdom living. Please give it a sing-along listen and come back for some thoughts on prayer.

Many hats

“And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God.”
[James 2:23 BSB]

It might be said that God wears many hats. The Bible refers to God as Creator, King, Shepherd, Deliverer, Judge, Abba (“daddy”) — just for starters. Revelation speaks of “the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty” and the Gospel of John says, “God so loved …”. THAT is quite a range.

James gives us one more — “friend“.

You and I wear a lot of these hats, too, which should be no surprise because He created us in His image. Our hats are not “God-sized”, but rather “our-sized”. Take a moment and think about a good friend. When you get together, do you usually greet each other with “fury of wrath” hats? I’ll bet not. I imagine most of you show up with some measure of fondness, gladness and a sense of rest in familiarity and mutual good will. You are both interested in hearing what the other is into.

It’s what friends do.

God likes our company

Now let’s connect hats and friends with prayer and praise to the Lord. Paul wrote to the Corinthians “… I seek not your’s, but you …” The context is “giving” but these words can apply to prayer and praise, too. God does not ask for our prayers because He has no idea what we need unless we spell it out for Him. Nor does He ask for our praise because He is insecure or needs help with self-esteem. It is not the prayers and the praise He seeks, but rather people who will reach out to Him in such ways — “with some measure of fondness, gladness and a sense of rest in familiarity and mutual good will.”

God likes our company. Prayer and praise are not to serve rules or religion, but for relationship. Think “friendship” and this easily comes into focus.

Think “friend time with the Lord” when approaching Him in prayer and praise. It is not the song but the heart of the singer that can melt His heart. It is not the brilliance of the lyrics, but the the love in the singer that lifts the lyrics to the level of praise.

The call to pray and praise goes a long way toward connecting us affectionately with the Lord and with His family. To me, this is the heart of Mr. Johnston’s lovely song.

I’d like to get to know you

While demonstrating how delicious home made pasta noodles are, our daughter, Sarah, discovered her Atlas Manual Pasta Maker Machine is a wonderful ice breaker when dinner guests come over. Recently she put a new friend to work cranking flour-dusted pasta dough through the Atlas clamped to her kitchen counter to produce amazing fresh fettuccini for the stroganoff. Tasty. Fun. Success!

Inviting someone to pray for you — and with you — just might serve the same way. Even — or especially — if that would be a new experience for them. Think icebreaker. Think of the chance to teach about the loving nature of the Lord, about how He enjoys our company. Think about the opportunity to lead by example and to deliberately include another in the joy of fellowship that comes from working together in Kingdom living. A good opening line just might be, “Pray with me”.

God bless you lots
-Dale R.

Download this song sheet

Pray With Me
Song by Charlie Johnston (2025)

1. Pray for me, my brother. Oh, won’t you pray for me?
I’ll pray for you my brother; down on bended knee.
I want to see you, my brother, in Gloryland with me.
So pray with me my brother; down on bended knee.

2. Stay with you my brother, down on bended knee.
I’ll stay with you my brother. Victory we’ll see.
I want to see you my brother, in Gloryland with me.
So pray with me my brother, down on bended knee.

3. Jesus prayed my brother. Oh, yes he prayed for me.
He prayed for you my brother; down on bended knee.
He wants to see us, my brother; in Gloryland we’ll be.
So pray with me, my brother; down on bended knee.

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