My days never seem long enough to afford them to get written.
I decided to do one of the shorter ones today.
(actually am having a recovering from the flu day, so this is perfect)
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| This is my son, 7 years ago. Aw.Aw.Aw. |
Do you have a prayer partner?
How important do you think prayer is?
How much do you think prayer works?
Do you ever tire of prayer, because of seemingly no results?
Do you ever burn out, because of the need?
Let me share two personal stories, ah, it may end up being three....
So I was talking with this older woman, let's call her Jane.
We were talking about an issue that was pressing on her heart.
Jane said, "You know, Mariellen, I pray about this ALL the time,
but I am just about ready to give up. It doesn't seem to be doing any good."
Whoa. This is what friends are for, right?
I said "Jane, I recently read that
PRAYER is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing I can do for ANYONE.
And the reason that it is so hard to pray, is because it's a spiritual battle.
Satan really doesn't want us to pray.
He'll distract us. He will have us forget. And then he will discourage us,
such as with 'Jane's' case.
I then relayed a personal testimony to Jane. I said,
I have a friend and she and her man were going thru a difficult time.
I prayed for her. Brent and I prayed every day together for them.
And then one week we forgot. Till Thursday.
And I asked her how it was going. And she leveled with me.
I felt horrible and I confessed to her that we had forgotten.
She thanked me for being that honest, and said that actually brings her hope.
We picked up the torch, and guess what? They felt it.
When I was finished telling Jane of this incident, she was inspired,
encouraged, to keep on praying....praise God!!
So I'm with my other friend (just kidding, I have more than 2)
And we're together for the weekend at a retreat.
Only Friday morning she needs to go home to her family and do school.
So throughout the morning,
I breathe two little prayers for Jill (not her real name)
and really don't think anymore of it. Until I talk to her later in the day.
I ask her how her day went. She looks at me and says.
"Did you pray for me?" I'm like, "yeah, why?"
She tells me that she had the most wonderful morning with her children.
I'm thinking, wow. And then I think about my prayers being breaths.
Not on my face, crying out to God, interceding all day long, sort of prayers.
AND I AM TOTALLY EXCITED!!
Because, if little 'breaths' can be heard
and used by Jesus,
then this is something that I can do.
I don't know about you, but I don't have time for
'on my face, crying out to God, interceding all day long, sort of prayers'
Don't get me wrong, there are days when those are needed.
But if I have to do that kind of praying all the time....ugh...it doesn't happen!
I just realized I'm not quite finished with my 'Jill' story.
So at the retreat, we were in a small group together.
And on the last day, as we sat in a circle, the leader suggested that for
the next week we each pray for the guy or gal to our right.
Jill was to my right-"O good, I like praying for Jill".
And I prayed for Jill consistently every day.
Can't remember that I ever got "on my face". But I prayed.
We didn't talk, so I didn't know how her week was going.
I do remember about Saturday, I was like 'I bet this isn't doing a bit of good'.
"Get thee behind me, satan!"
Today I was talking to Jill (texting actually)
and what we talked of inspired this post.
Obviously, it's been on my heart, but this was the clincher.
She thanked me for praying and said she could definitely feel them.
Said her week went very well. Amazingly well.
Said she was trying to figure out how she could get me to pray for her always.
I was doing the same thing. Barb was praying for me.
Without a doubt, I felt prayed for. Not a question in my mind.
Ladies, we all know that when we have 'internal' peace and quiet,
the external can get pretty harried without affecting us negatively.
And that was my week....not the easiest...never is when you have the flu...
But the presence and power of Christ was so evident.
I basked all week long...still am, actually.
ALL BECAUSE SOMEONE IS PRAYING FOR ME!
So how important is prayer? Vital.
A partner? Imperative.
This brings new passion to me, because so often,
I look at all the needs around me
and I feel so compelled to pray, pray, pray. For everyone, all the time.
And then I get so burned out...
And I'm not saying a prayer partner would
keep me from praying for everyone as God lays them on my heart.
That is exactly what I want. To pray as God directs.
But what if I could grab a friend, and say,
"Can we commit to pray for each other every day?"
This is a fight we're in, let's not get lulled to sleep by the distractions.
Ladies, Janes, Jills, Barbs, we so often never see the result of our prayers.
But we can't stop praying, cuz if we do, the enemy has won!
God bless your step in the journey today.....
