31 Simple Solutions :: Praying

This post has been tumbling around in my head and heart for awhile {like since before I even started blogging kind of “awhile”}. I just never took the time to spill it into words.

It’s nothing profound really.

Nothing you probably haven’t thought of before.

But since the thought keeps clambering around in my heart, there’s got to be a reason.

Do you ever have people just randomly pop into your mind?

Maybe you have no idea why you thought of them.

Or maybe you were reminded of a situation they were going through.

Or maybe you saw something that reminded you of them.

All you know is that you’re vacuuming your living room amid the noise and the hubbub of three little ones running around and you’re mentally running through your to do list and wondering what you’re going to have for lunch, when “bam!” your friend’s mom comes to mind and you’re reminded that she’s going through a hard time.

Or…You’re driving down the road headed towards home after a looooong morning and you’re wondering what you’re going to have for lunch and your kids are exhausted in the backseat, and “pop!” your friend comes to mind and you remember she’s asked you to pray.

Or sometimes I think about a random person or situation for no apparent reason. Like friends I haven’t kept up with in years.

Does this happen to you?

It happens to me ALL the time.

Now it would be so easy to just blow it off with a “huh, wonder why I thought about her, or him, or that.”

But I’ve been learning something.

I’ve been learning to take those random thoughts of people or situations and offer up a prayer to the Father.

Maybe you don’t even know what they are going through. Maybe you think everything is fine. Maybe you just saw them and everything was great!

But the truth is… We just don’t know.

Once when I was traveling with a ministry I was staying in a host home with one of the other girls on the team. I woke up in the middle of the night from an intense nightmare. It was so realistic, and I was so extremely frightened that I could not move in my bed. I couldn’t even turn on the light to dispel the darkness, and the remote switch for the light was right under my pillow. It was a paralyzing fear. As I laid there in bed I so wanted to call out to my friend {she was in a different room}, but I couldn’t bring myself even to whisper her name. Eventually, though I was still very scared, I was finally able to whisper the name of Jesus and command satan to flee. In time I was able to fall back to sleep.

The next morning I was telling my friend about this horrible dream and my extreme fear. She mentioned that she too had awakened in the middle of the night. She felt the need to pray, but didn’t know who to pray for. So she said a simple prayer like, “Lord, whoever needs prayer right now, I lift them to You,” and then went back to sleep. Well, I know you’ll believe me when I say that about the time she woke up and prayed was about the same time that I was able to call on the name of Jesus and fall back to sleep.

She didn’t know. I didn’t know. But the Lord knew. The Holy Spirit knows who needs prayer even when we don’t.

Which brings me full circle back to the beginning of the post. It occurred to me as I was driving home one day awhile ago that I had made it a habit to pray like that. I hadn’t even realized it! And then I started thinking about all the prayers that have probably been offered on my behalf. Wow!

And just imagine if we all paused to pray for our friends and family and perfect strangers whenever they popped into our minds… What a difference! What an impact!

Sometimes I get caught up in thinking I don’t “do” enough for God. I’m not spiritual enough. I don’t spend enough time in the Word. I don’t study the Scripture enough. I’m not on my knees praying for countless hours everyday. And while all that may or may not be true, those little moments of prayer…those are powerful stuff!

God doesn’t demand that we fall to our knees and pray for three hours in order to accomplish His work. He asks us to walk with Him. And talk with Him. And to pray without ceasing. To lift our burdens and cares to Him throughout the day. To lift others burdens and cares to Him as He brings them to mind.

The thing is – He will bring them to mind. Because He knows their needs even when we don’t.

And I bet you’d be surprised at how often you were turning to the Lord in prayer if you made the conscious effort to turn those random and fleeting thoughts into prayer.

So I encourage you as I encourage myself – the next time someone randomly pops into your head, turn that thought into a prayer. Take those random thoughts as promptings of the Holy Spirit and take them to the Father. You’ll be glad you did!

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you prayed for someone not knowing why to find out later they needed that prayer?