Be A Prayer Warrior
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. -- James 5:16
My Great Aunt Murl was a prayer warrior long before it was a popular term. It wasn’t something she shouted from the roof tops. It was just something that she did.
It was also something we all counted on. When she died, her daughter asked “Who will pray for us now?” Her eyes were haunted as she said it. The void was huge and it seemed impossible to fill.
I hugged her and told her “We’ll pray for each other.” And we did. Her daughter went Home more than a year ago. She became a prayer warrior before she left us.
Aunt Murl’s life was filled with children and grandchildren. It was filled with a large extended family. She was next to the youngest of 13 children and they were all close. She stayed with the elderly. She rarely missed anything at church.
She was a busy woman but she was never too busy to listen. Or to laugh. Or to cook a meal to share with someone else.
She didn’t have time for television. She wouldn’t watch it. “Why would I watch TV when I could be talking to God,” she’d say. Maybe that’s why I have no patience with people who know all the latest television shows but don’t have time to read their Bible.
It’s all about priorities and Aunt Murl’s priority was God and then people. It was simple to her. I sure wish it could be as simple to the rest of us.
When a new pastor came to her lifelong church, he went to visit those in the nursing home. He said he had to wait when he got to her room because she was praying. “I came to be a blessing to her,” he said later. “But she was a blessing to me.” She was a blessing to everyone who knew her.
Our church, like many churches, has a prayer team that meets weekly. They also communicate through the week for any prayer requests that come in. It is just so comforting to know that they are praying for us, offering up specific petitions, for help and healing and guidance.
Who are you praying for today? I know. Yourself. Your family. Your close friends maybe. Who else? Are you praying for your neighbor who doesn’t know Jesus? Are you praying for the sick co-worker you really don’t know?
Be a prayer warrior. Be someone others can count on to pray for them. Your prayers make a difference. Really. So pray. Just pray.
No comments:
Post a Comment