I'LL PRAY FOR YOU: a purely speculative essay

Why do we ask God to bless the people in our lives?  Doesn't He long to pour down blessings on His children? Wouldn't He do it without reminding? Doesn't He bless us anyway, whenever we make ourselves the least bit worthy and willing to receive?

The answer I've come up with is pure conjecture, but it's based on personal experience that is both specific and unusual, so I thought I would share it.

I have a fatigue disorder that seriously limits the amount of energy my body can produce.  Today, after many years of successful treatment and diligent self-care, I can function reasonably well as long as I take several short resting periods during the day.  But there was a time when I could not function.  In fact, my condition was so severe that I could not move or talk for two years.

During my long convalescence and recovery, I diligently monitored my energy level.  I noticed very quickly what filled my energy tank and what depleted it because I did not want to become bedridden again.

And I noticed something very strange.  Prayer could deplete my energy. Not when I was giving thanks and not when I asked a divine favor for myself.  But definitely when I was asking a blessing on another person. I don't mean that I felt a spiritual or emotional drain.  I mean that I was actually physically tired after saying a prayer for someone. I had to limit the number of such prayers I offered in any given day, because it was dangerous for my energy to drop too much.

This observation reminded me of an interesting story in the New Testament. A woman with a terrible illness believes that Jesus has the power to heal her. Her faith is so strong that she is certain that if she can merely touch his clothing, she will be healed.  She doesn't try to talk to him or catch his attention, she just pushes forward through the people that are crowding him and touches the hem of his robe. And is immediately cured.  

Jesus stops, turns around and starts looking through the crowd.  "Who touched me?" he says.

His apostles are confused, maybe even a bit annoyed:  "Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?"

But Jesus was aware that something significant had happened because  (as the author of this gospel explains) strength "had gone out of him." (see Mark 5 and the footnote to verse 30)                                                                
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