I wrote some notes that I'd been meaning to mail out this week, and I forgot to buy stamps. Silly me! It's one of those things you don't think you need that often so you don't even realize you don't have any. Now I have a stack of letters to send; without those stamps, seemingly insignificant, they won't be leaving my mailbox, let alone make it across the country.

I find myself treating prayers or the promise of praying for someone the same way. I'll comment on a Facebook post or text a friend saying "Praying for you" complete with a praying hands emoji. We tend to have this reflex of telling someone we're praying for them, when in reality, we've forgotten what we promised almost as soon as those words left our lips. "Our promise of praying means nothing if we fail to pray." (#originalquote) The intention of praying is nothing without the action of praying.

I had to change something. How can I love people as Jesus did if I fail to pray them? I'm a visual learner so lately I've begun changing the lockscreen on my phone to a picture of someone for whom I'm praying. It keeps whoever it is in the forefront of my thoughts. We unlock our phones thousands of times in a week. Why not have a reminder of someone who needs prayer every time we do?