Who Will Pray?
"When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven."
- Nehemiah 1:4
My friend and I are planning a retreat. There are a lot of things to do to put a retreat together, and as with any project there are a lot of people 'behind the scenes' that contribute to the project. I met with one of those people this week, and I think I got my "retreat experience" when having that 15 minute conversation.
One of the things that happens before the retreat is a lot of prayer. We have one prayer warrior we count on for a lot of this. I met with her to give her the names to pray for, people who have registered for the retreat so far. This lady is 86 years old. She has not had an easy life. She has a child to cancer, has watched other children suffer with it, and faced many other difficulties and trials along the way. Her body does not allow her to do a lot of the things she was once able to do. We were talking about some personal things, and in particular one struggle she is currently facing. What she said next is something I will never forget. She talked about sometimes feeling it was time to go, that she was ready to be with the Lord. Then she said, " But I cant go now....if I go now, who will pray?"
Wow. Who will pray? What a profound question. After I left her home, I asked myself that same question. Who will pick up the tradition and pray fervently for others, people not even known to the prayer. I unfortunately had to admit I was certainly not that kind of prayer warrior, and I'm not sure I know many others either.
I read an article entitled "Crying Out" by Linda Tomblin. In this article, Linda recalls a conversation with a friend called Preacher Tom, a man who had pastored for 50 years in her community. She asked him this question, "What do you think most helped you prepare for a life of service to God?" Here was his response:
" I can't help but think about the prayer meetings we used to have in the little church where I was saved as a boy. We met in one of the Sunday School rooms. It was smaller and somehow seemed to make it easier to focus on why we were there. When it was time to pray everyone prayed. Some stood with heads bowed. Families held their babies in heir arms and corralled their older youngsters around them. Husbands and wives held hands and knelt together....They prayed for their families and friends. But they cried out to God like the Bible says Nehemiah did for the Israelites. I still remember reaching over to touch the rug on which some of the members had knelt to pray...., and it was damp from their tears. I'll never forget the sincerity of those prayers."
Linda goes on to say:
"As I watched tears fill his eyes, I knew he was once again hearing the voices and petitions of those long-gone prayer warriors. The men and women of those old time prayer meetings didn't know that the young boy kneeling behind them would someday preach the gospel They didn't know what influence their prayers would have on him. And I couldn't help but wonder if the children and young people crowding into the back seat of today's churches would someday look back on their congregations and remember the same kind of devotion to prayer."
Ouch. I can promise you my children don't have memories like this.
I received an email yesterday. In the email, there was a picture of third grade children gathered by picnic tables at recess. One of the students in a third grade class was going to be having surgery, and a classmate of hers wanted to pray for her. They invited all of the third graders to join with them at the beginning of recess if they wished to pray also. The result was a picture of these precious 8 and 9 year old children, heads bowed in unison, praying for a classmate. Priceless.
Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
-Matthew 18:4
So I ask you the same question I have been asking myself this week: Who will pray? Who will fill that gap? Seems we can learn from both the young and the old. All we need now is to actually DO it. Will I? Will you?
- Nehemiah 1:4
My friend and I are planning a retreat. There are a lot of things to do to put a retreat together, and as with any project there are a lot of people 'behind the scenes' that contribute to the project. I met with one of those people this week, and I think I got my "retreat experience" when having that 15 minute conversation.
One of the things that happens before the retreat is a lot of prayer. We have one prayer warrior we count on for a lot of this. I met with her to give her the names to pray for, people who have registered for the retreat so far. This lady is 86 years old. She has not had an easy life. She has a child to cancer, has watched other children suffer with it, and faced many other difficulties and trials along the way. Her body does not allow her to do a lot of the things she was once able to do. We were talking about some personal things, and in particular one struggle she is currently facing. What she said next is something I will never forget. She talked about sometimes feeling it was time to go, that she was ready to be with the Lord. Then she said, " But I cant go now....if I go now, who will pray?"
Wow. Who will pray? What a profound question. After I left her home, I asked myself that same question. Who will pick up the tradition and pray fervently for others, people not even known to the prayer. I unfortunately had to admit I was certainly not that kind of prayer warrior, and I'm not sure I know many others either.
I read an article entitled "Crying Out" by Linda Tomblin. In this article, Linda recalls a conversation with a friend called Preacher Tom, a man who had pastored for 50 years in her community. She asked him this question, "What do you think most helped you prepare for a life of service to God?" Here was his response:
" I can't help but think about the prayer meetings we used to have in the little church where I was saved as a boy. We met in one of the Sunday School rooms. It was smaller and somehow seemed to make it easier to focus on why we were there. When it was time to pray everyone prayed. Some stood with heads bowed. Families held their babies in heir arms and corralled their older youngsters around them. Husbands and wives held hands and knelt together....They prayed for their families and friends. But they cried out to God like the Bible says Nehemiah did for the Israelites. I still remember reaching over to touch the rug on which some of the members had knelt to pray...., and it was damp from their tears. I'll never forget the sincerity of those prayers."
Linda goes on to say:
"As I watched tears fill his eyes, I knew he was once again hearing the voices and petitions of those long-gone prayer warriors. The men and women of those old time prayer meetings didn't know that the young boy kneeling behind them would someday preach the gospel They didn't know what influence their prayers would have on him. And I couldn't help but wonder if the children and young people crowding into the back seat of today's churches would someday look back on their congregations and remember the same kind of devotion to prayer."
Ouch. I can promise you my children don't have memories like this.
I received an email yesterday. In the email, there was a picture of third grade children gathered by picnic tables at recess. One of the students in a third grade class was going to be having surgery, and a classmate of hers wanted to pray for her. They invited all of the third graders to join with them at the beginning of recess if they wished to pray also. The result was a picture of these precious 8 and 9 year old children, heads bowed in unison, praying for a classmate. Priceless.
Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
-Matthew 18:4
So I ask you the same question I have been asking myself this week: Who will pray? Who will fill that gap? Seems we can learn from both the young and the old. All we need now is to actually DO it. Will I? Will you?
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