Praying for those we can't see

Fabi at VirtuousPla.net writes about something all of us in 40DFL have experienced when praying on the sidewalk:

On Being a (Spiritual) Friend

The foundation of friendship is secret. It is not boastful, but quiet. It does not seek compensation, but pours out love as readily as a mother gives her child milk. I’m speaking of prayer and fasting. Both of which Jesus asked us to do without anybody noticing.

Few things show more profound love for another human being than time taken out of the day to pray for them. Heaven is listening but your friend is not and so there will be no “Thank you” or embrace from him or her. In this way you are strengthening your bond with another person and you are striving for a selfless love.

To take it a step further befriend your friend’s guardian angel. In this way the things you cannot do the angel will do for you.

Fasting is something that is relatively new to me. I usually just feel grumpy when I set my expectations too high, but offering up even the smallest sacrifices of your day for a good friend is a pain in the devil’s side. If you could actually see your friend’s spiritual battles in all their horror and magnificence you’d be throwing some pretty [bad] blows, making demons flee. It is exhilarating to think of this but also daunting. I think of these things and I don’t know if I truly love my friends this much, to sacrifice my comforts for the love of them. So when I do challenge myself I start small, because I am a spoiled child. I remind myself it is better to start small than not to start at all. Better to begin a squire then never be out on the battlefield defending not only myself, but those I love from evil.

In the eyes of the world keeping the foundation of friendship rich is a thankless job. Prayer and fasting are so hard to grasp for our modern go get ‘em minds. We want results and fun or nothing at all. But a true spirit of friendship is so much deeper than even I am able to grasp at this moment. It goes beyond the vain superficialities that we sometimes think make up our relationships.

If prayer and fasting is all you can do that is a great thing. Sometimes it is not practical, wise or mutually edifying to be in physical contact with a friend, but what can the devil do with your eyes lifted up to heaven and your hungry body ready to be fed by God?

God grant us all the grace to love with pure hearts and be living sacrifices for those we love, so that in the end we might be called True Friends.