Have you ever lay in bed at night and wished someone cared enough to pray for you?
I have….and I will share what happened to me about 7 years ago.
The house was quiet, my family were all safely tucked in bed…and the troubles that overwhelmed my soul for some time were darker that night and harder to bear. I felt my prayers were surrounded by leaden weights that rose no higher than the baseboards. I felt that I was alone…isolated…forgotten…hurt. (insert appropriate feeling here.)
Trying to find one mustard seed of Faith in my heart, I asked God to answer one prayer that night…that He would nudge someone’s heart in Alabama to pray for me. (Note: I knew my parents in Texas ALWAYS prayed for me.) He didn’t necessarily have to wake someone up that moment. I just wanted someone to think about me and pray for me; it would be nice to know that someone cared. Oh yeah, I wanted TO KNOW that God answered my prayer.
Well, sleep finally came…then a few days passed…then a week passed…then…
A card arrived in the mail…it said…”I’m praying for you”.
Another week passed…another card arrived…signed, “I’m praying for you.”
Another week came and eventually three other women at church personally shared with me that they had been thinking about me and have been praying for me for some time. One of them didn’t know why I left the room so suddenly.
In fact, for quite a while, a roll call “right out of the Lamb’s Book of Life” in one way or another soon shared that they had been praying for me.
I quickly found out that when God answers a prayer…He really answers it!
Lessons I’ve learned the Hard Way:
1. Don’t keep your trials and heartaches a secret. It may not be wise to share details, but you can at least let someone you trust in the Lord know that you are under attack, so someone can pray for you NOW...not later...when it might be too late.
2. Don’t feel that no one cares. They do. God always cares.
3. Look…really look and see those around you, especially in your congregation. Look in their eyes and faces. Do you see someone hurting, someone that looks tired, angry…do they look like they’ve given up? Hey, even if they look happy, keep them that way! Pray for them and TELL then that you are praying for them. They might need an answer to their desperate prayer too.
4. Being concerned for someone else also takes our mind off our own problems. When we pray for someone else’s needs, the Lord works ours out too!
3 comments:
I, too, have learned those same lessons. You just put it into words so much better! ~smile~
Vicky: We will and are praying for your family.
The Lord is calling me (us) to more Prayer this year. Let's all pray fervently for each other.
Isa 59:1 Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Love ya'll
Amen, Sister Tammy. It's so true, that if we busy ourselves with ministering to someone else, instead of moping about our own sad situations, we are uplifted and encouraged. I've heard many testimonies through the years of someone proclaiming that they were sick or discouraged, but when they prayed fervantly for someone else and their needs, they themselves were instantly healed! "Casting all your care upon him; for he
careth for you" (1 Pet. 5:7).
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