Praying

Published on March 08, 2010 by Melody Perkins, Shelter Team Leader

As Christians, we talk and think about prayer a lot. Since generally people don't ask us a often about our prayer habits, some of us probably pray relatively "a lot" and some probably don't--and most are probaly somewhere in between. Prayer is hard work. This can be because in our prayers we are somehow battling against the powers and pricipalities in the heavenlies (look in Romans 8 and elsewhere in the Bible). It is also hard work because in order to pray, to talk with God about things, I have to tear my attention away from every "interesting" or "distracting" thing on earth and get my focus to the things I need to pray on. I need to be willing to stop taking care of things, which is my usual habit, and turn to the Lord, acknowledging that He is the One who really takes care of things.

Sunday I saw a man who'd recently been ill for a number of weeks with a life-threatening sickness. Many of us have been praying for him, and it was a delight to see him in person, beside me in the Communion line. Right away he asked how my dad is doing. The last blog I posted here was completed at my home minutes before my dad called me to say my Mom had died. Those three words are much too small for what they mean and how searing and awful the loss is, "Mom died."
It was and is shocking and sad despite the knowledge that she is with Jesus.

But as he asked how my Dad is and I answered, ending with, "Please don't stop praying," I started thinking about how he and his family have been praying for us and how deeply we have and do need it, and how much my husband and I and many others have been praying for him, and how they have also needed it.

And that's only two of us. I know hundreds of people with hundreds of situations. I pray for the Shelter Staff and guests, and the guests and Staff have also been praying for me in my grief. Because of praying for each other, we are not "even," we are instead lifting each other up to God. We are all part of the way that He wants to take care of his people and things here on earth. Yesterday a lot of us got together to pray for the Shelter guests, and we barely touched on all that God is doing in and with us and them. I could go on and on, but you get the gist. Prayer is amazing, mysterious, huge, powerful in the workings of our amazing, huge, powerful, loving God. Amazing. Amen.