A prayer burden can be defined as a strong motivation to pray for others and to carry the needs of others before God in prayer until God responds.

The Bible has a great deal to say about burdens. We are to bear one another's burdens (see Gal.6:2). We are to go the second mile in helping another person (see Matt.5:41). Much of our ability to bear natural burdens is derived from developing our ability to carry spiritual burdens in prayer.

A sense of spiritual weight usually accompanies a prayer burden-a heaviness of heart, a drag on one's emotions, a spirit of mourning, or a feeling of restlessness that we can't seem to shift ourselves away from a problem or need that has come to our attention.

God does not act in many situations because we do not pray. God waits for either the co-instigator of the negative situation to cry out to Him for forgiveness, or for the victim of the negative situation to cry out to Him for mercy. Then He will act.

If you feel burdened to pray for another person, God desires to act on that person's behalf. he places the burden to pray on your heart, and He moves through the opening. As you pray, you can get in on the blessing that God has for that person through an answered prayer.

Vincent P. Abel