How Can I Pray for You Today?

"How can I pray for you today?"

If you follow me on facebook, you know that I post this question daily. It is something that I felt challenged to do after seeing someone else post it several times. I never imagined the impact it would have.

Every single day I receive prayer requests. Most of them come by way of private messages. There are things that people don't always want to share with the world. Struggles that they don't need everyone to know about. Yet, they need someone to pray for them, with them, to agree with them, to talk to them, to listen to them, to love them, and to be loved by.

That simple question turned out to be not so simple at all. That question has changed me.

Prayer Warrior.

I have met some incredible prayer warriors in my life. I have been in awe of those who could pray for others. It was one of my greatest weaknesses. It was an arena I never wanted to enter. Then, eight years ago, God thrust me into the praying arena in a very public way. And, oh, how I fought him on it.

I was in line at the Dollar store and I heard two women behind me talking. One woman was talking about the health/medical issues she was facing. And I knew God was telling me to pray for her. I was terrified. What on earth did he want me to pray? I wasn't good at that sort of thing. And in front of all these people? No way! I was going to look like a freak. How was looking like a freak going to be a good Christian witness to others? It wasn't! (I will come back to that nonsense later.) I hurried through the line and back out to the car where my family was waiting. And I sat there. Practically hyperventilating. I felt on fire. I was sick at my stomach. And I couldn't move. My husband asked me what was wrong. I told him as tears streamed down my cheeks. He let me talk it all out. We watched the woman walk out of the store. And behind her walked a woman that we knew to be a prayer warrior. Well, I thought, good. She is great at praying , she will do a much better job than I ever could. I waited. The woman I was supposed to pray for walked into a fabric store while God's prayer warrior walked in the other direction. In shock, I looked at my husband who said, "I guess God wants you to do it". (I would like to point out that said husband seemed to be smirking at the time which did not go over well with me at all!)

I decided to wait until she came out of the fabric store to pray with her quietly and not in the middle of a store full of people. After 45 minutes of waiting, I sort of realized that God was pushing me but the window of opportunity would be lost soon. I could feel the door closing. If I didn't walk into that store right now, I would miss it. Terrified, I went in to find this woman. All the while, I was imagining how crazy she was going to think I was. Finding her looking at quilting supplies, I quickly explained the situation and asked if I could pray for her. Turns out, she is a Christian. As I was praying for her, she was praying for me. We both cried and hugged. God was glorified. Whether I looked like a freak didn't matter and I didn't even care.

I wish I could say that was the only time God has had to push me to do that. There is nothing quite as strange as standing in the lingerie department of a store, praying with an 80 year old woman about a lump in her breast. Even at church, if I was asked to pray, I would freeze up. For years, I actually tried to justify not praying by saying that I believed a woman shouldn't lead prayer if there was a man present. I finally accepted it as my Christian duty to pray sometimes. And I just want to clear up any confusion - I am talking about praying publicly and with and for strangers or anyone not in my immediate circle. I could pray by myself all day long. I could pray quietly during service. I could pray over my family.

So you would think that asking how I can pray for people online wouldn't be a big deal, right? Well, you would be wrong! Even though, I have been praying for people for a few years, it was still difficult. And then I began posting this question daily on facebook. Now I am praying for people every day. It has been humbling and awesome. And it has increased and enriched my prayer life. So, just as I was getting comfortable with praying, I screwed up. Big time. Recently. As in, earlier this month.

Just so you can understand what a messed up person I am, let me paint you a little picture. I am on the prayer team at church. That means that I am up front at the end of service and I pray for and with people who come up needing/wanting prayer and/or seeking salvation. See the picture? Okay, here it comes. It was at an evening worship service we had. There was a couple I had never seen before sitting a few rows up from me. During worship, I knew I was supposed to go up and pray for the woman. I fought God on that for three songs. I had excuse after excuse. There weren't many people there so it would really be noticed and I would look like a freak. What if I scare her off? With the music playing, what if I can't hear her and I mess something up? Like if she asked me to pray for a renewal in her relationship with God and I start praying about her dog. I just kept putting it off. Then, I closed my eyes during the next song and when I opened them, the couple had left. I ran out to go after them. I could hear that door slamming shut. I searched outside, but they were already gone. The rest of that worship service I spent crying and begging God to forgive me and give me another chance.

That evening, at home, I talked to my husband about it. I asked why I couldn't be a prayer warrior. He looked at me funny and asked me why I thought I wasn't. Because it is a great weakness in me, I explained. And then he started talking about God using us in our weakness to be made strong and how what was once a weakness is now a strength. And then he got on me about my perfection issue.

Since I have been asking people how I can pray for them, my faith has grown. My weakness is becoming a strength. My prayers have grown. My compassion and love for others has grown. I have gained so much more than I have given in this. I am humbled. And like all warriors, I see my scars for what they are now, not as signs of defeat or weakness, but of reminders that I am still here to fight the battle, to continue to move toward victory, to carry on, and to learn from the mistakes that I made.

How can I pray for you today?

Love and Blessings!
Bri