What If Your Life Depends On The Faith Of Your Friends

Have you ever hung out with someone for a while and started picking up their vocabulary? They use a certain word or expression a lot and then you notice that you are using it, too? We pick up habits, interests, attitudes, values of the people we are around the most. Simply put, we become like the people we’re around.

It’s been said that we’re the average of the five people we’re around the most. Think about that for a minute. Do you feel negative, stressed, hopeful, like everything is full of drama, hurried, calm, joyful? Take a second and think about the people you are around most. Are you picking up their emotions or personalities? Do they value what you value? Are they supportive? Is it reciprocal or is it more one-sided? Can you count on them? Are they helping you be better or do they bring out your less attractive qualities?

Proverbs 27:17 immediately comes to mind. “As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” The friends that you are consistently communicating with are likely making the biggest difference in the trajectory of your life.

This topic of who we are around has been weighing on my mind a lot lately – especially where friendships are concerned. It matters who we are around. It matters who our friends are. It matters who we invest quality time in. We are actively shaping each other, and these relationships can have an impact for generations. A conversation with my youngest triggered thoughts of the importance of my parents’ best friends in not only my life but my children’s lives. For those of us who live in areas without much or any family around, our friends take on an even greater role.

The circle of people we curate for ourselves will influence us whether we want it to or not. It’s important that we choose those people cautiously. Those people have a huge impact on our lives. These are the people that we do life with. That we celebrate with. That we mourn with. That we show up for regardless of the circumstances. That we pray for and rely on to pray for us.

One of my friends and I had dinner recently and talked about this. She then sent me a meme that said, “Just a reminder: In Mark 2: Jesus healed a paralyzed man because of HIS FRIEND’S faith, and you think who you hang out with doesn’t matter?” That’s the story where the four friends climbed to the roof of the home and lowered their paralyzed friend through the ceiling to get him to Jesus. That’s huge.

I was reading something else in Job this week and reread the first part of 42:10, “And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends.” Another version says, “After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord made him prosperous again…” Job’s prayers saved his friends. How good the back half of his life ultimately turned out to be had a whole lot to do with him praying for his friends. It was pivotal. Having praying friends and being a praying friend has always mattered. It’s a game-changer.

I want to encourage you not just to pray for your friends but pray that God sends you the right friends. The friends you need to be around and that need to be around you. Pay attention to who you are surrounded by. Do they jive with the person you want to be? Do they share the values that you want to instill in your children? Because it 100 percent makes a difference. They might outlive you.

Your blessings may be behind the prayers you pray for your friends. Your life might hinge on their faith. Choose wisely.