On Sunday morning we were out of town for Anthony to preach
and the church had graciously allowed us to spend the night in a (fabulous!) local
hotel. They had an awesome complimentary
hot breakfast buffet, but it was no surprise that (A) and (a) were several
minutes ahead of me in getting ready for church, so they headed on down to
enjoy the breakfast before me. When I
was ready I went down to join them. They
were almost finished and (A) had started cleaning up. We were not in a rush, but I knew I was
running behind them and I didn’t have time to piddle, so when (a) took my hand
and said “we pay, Momma” I told him we did not have time to play because we
were trying to get ready for church. He
kept insisting however, “we PAY, Momma” and kept holding my hand. I told him again we did not have time to
play, but we would later. Then he said “no,
we PAAYY” and then I realized what he wanted to do… “we PRAY.”
He knows when we sit down to eat a meal, the first thing we
do is hold hands and pray. I had just
joined them with my food and he wanted to pray together before I ate. “Oh! You want us to PRAY!” I finally realized
and he grinned and nodded, “we pay!” So I held his little hand as we prayed over
my breakfast and his daddy’s sermon and the people of the church where we were
visiting. We pray. There is so much power in that phrase.
When we arrived at church, we had the opportunity to visit
with several people before the service started.
One of the church leaders came up to welcome us and say good morning,
and he said he would like to pray with us before the service began. It was the first time I had ever met him, and
there is no way he could have known the specific word our family has been
praying for the past several months, but as he prayed with us that morning he
also specifically asked God for the EXACT request we have been making
daily. I will be honest, I began to
cry. It never ceases to amaze me how God
reveals himself when… we pray.
There is a leadership figure in my life who is also a friend,
and periodically he asks how he can pray for me specifically. If you have never asked someone that question-
start asking it! It is the greatest gift
you could give them. The first time I was
asked this question it stopped me in my tracks.
I had not just heard the generic “I’ll pray for you.” The question “How can I specifically pray for
you this week?” really meant:
1. I truly care.
2. I really am going
to pray about this and not just tell you I will.
3. I trust God enough to ask Him for an individual need or
situation.
It is a blessing how we can connect to one another and show
true friendship when… we pray.
I will admit, sometimes I have good intentions of praying
for a situation, but I don’t get it done.
Sometimes I think my request is too trivial to matter to the God of the
Universe, but his word tells me that isn’t true.
Jeremiah 29:12 says “Then you will call on me and come and
pray to me, and I will listen to you.”
I want my first reaction to life’s struggles and joys to be
like that little boy who grabbed my hand… “we
pray.”
I want to truly carry the people in my life to the feet of
Jesus when we pray.
The opportunity to see God do something amazing is powerful
when we pray.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 “pray continually”
James 5:16 “Therefore, confess your sins to each other and
pray for each other so that you may be healed.
The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”
I loved this Kristi and it places a whole new look at bbq praying for each other
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