In many times and places, for people and situations I have witnessed the power of prayer. The vestry wants to bring a spotlight to prayer in the upcoming year, so these are some of my experiences.

 

My first prayer time as a child was at bedtime where I would recite the Lord’s Prayer and go on to name everyone in the family for God to watch over. This certainly instilled in my head that God is first and then family. Even cousins whom I didn’t see often were on the nightly docket in birth order, so when I saw them, it was never a problem to remember their name and the names of their siblings, mother and father.

 

In my young adult years, prayer was primarily a cry for help in times of trouble. God answered and brought me through some horrible situations that were, for the most part, self-inflicted. Realizing my destructiveness, I brought that before God to work on my propensity for things that didn’t bring life. Asking God to take away my desire to do these things was the first step. It seemed to take forever to drop some of the obvious sins, and I continue to be vigilant. I can bear witness to many stories of God’s goodness despite my rebellion from this time of my life.

 

As a mother, oh boy, the prayers focused on my children and continue to this day. I was fortunate enough to have a praying neighbor where I brought my preschool-age boys and we fervently prayed between mothering demands. This was the most critical action above anything else I did as a mother. Funny, it seemed at the time to be non-productive. I believe this opened the door for my children to be able to approach God in prayer. They saw me pray; I prayed with them. One day I picked up my youngest from school as an early teen, and he told me about an answer to prayer. He saw the power and results of God’s answer to our petition. Isn’t it cool to see God “show up”? I love those stories. What some people might call a coincidence, we claim as a God-incidence.

 

My favorite way to pray is to incorporate Scripture and pray it over a situation or person. I also find myself singing when a particular verse is one that I know a tune to. This makes for a joyful praying experience. My favorite time to pray is in the morning, while I walk, or travel to my office in Tallahassee. I ask Jesus to walk or ride with me and have a conversation, bringing everything to Him in prayer. We have a lovely time, and I am refreshed and ready when I arrive at the beginning of the work day.

 

As a member of the prayer team at Servants, I know there is so much to carry to God in prayer. Sometimes it can seem overwhelming. But I pray we plant the above Scripture in our hearts and minds.