I WILL SAY A PRAYER
How many of you have uttered the words, “I will say a prayer for you?” I know I have said that many times, and I try to stop whatever I am doing at the time, and say a prayer. I don’t want to get busy and forget to pray for someone after I have said I would. But these are prayers said in private. These are words whispered at night when I go to bed. I have never prayed in front of anyone.
One of the first things I learned when I became President of our local woman’s club, was to always ask the person you had in mind to perform a task. If you wanted someone to lead the Pledge of Allegiance To The Flag, then you should ask them before the meeting to make sure they were fine with that. However, when Bertha became President a couple years later, she didn’t get that memo. At the beginning of the meeting, we will have a Thought For The Day, have prayer, and then eat a light meal before the “real” meeting starts. Bertha said, “Tania, will you lead us in prayer?” I was thrown for a loop, I stammered, NO! I just froze.
Typing is one thing, but talking is completely different. I had a hot spot on my Thyroid. I know you are thinking what does this have to do with prayer. The doctors decided that my over active hot spot would have to be radiated. The plan was to “kill” the hot spot and leave the rest of my thyroid alone. That is not what happened. Now I have to take thyroid medicine daily. One of the symptoms of thyroid issues has to do with memory and words. I can be talking to you and need to say the word telephone. I can tell you that you can make calls with this object, that you talk to people through it, but the word “telephone” will not come to mind. This is extremely uncomfortable when you are talking to anyone, you feel like an idiot. So saying a prayer, that is not one that has been memorized, is terrifying for me.
In a devotional this week, a lady was talking about someone being at her home do some odd jobs. After talking to this young man, she felt the uncomfortable nudge from the Lord to ask the young man if she could pray for him. He responded yes! She fought down the uncomfortable feeling, and did what she felt was prompted. In the end the young man was blessed, but so was she.
I am still working on my prayer life. I talk to the Lord as I would my father, my best friend, and my confidante. He knows me, and I am striving to know him. I ask for him to open my eyes and my heart. And I ask what I can do for him, what would please him.
Maybe in the future, I will be able to say a prayer out loud. But, until then, I will say a prayer for you in private.
I hope you have a blessed day.
I’ve gotten your post daily for several years but just started reading in full your devotional. Thank you for being God’s servant.
Kathy, I’m so happy to hear you are now reading my faith based posts!!!
Beautiful.
Thank you for sharing this.
How beautiful! I know what you mean about speaking impromptu. Let me know ahead of time so I can make sense when I speak….LOL.
I struggle with this also. Then one day I realized that prayer was just a conversation with God and Ididn’t have to use fancy words or Biblical phrases. So I begin my morning with “Good Morning God – Thank you and end it with Amen. So its an ongoing conversation, sometimes happy, sometimes angry but always grateful. My words don’t have to be perfect, just sincere. I still struggle with someone asking me to pray on the quick, but I also realize that if I had to think about it I would worry about what to say. LOL! Have a wonderful day and have a great time at the festival.
I too have a constant conversation with God. He always listens.😊
I, too, was uncomfortable praying out loud. One day a sweet friend at church prayed out loud and I was so drawn into all that she said and the way she said it. It was so open and honest. Every pause, ummm, & sigh struggling for what to say made it all more sincere and natural. So, I have learned that it doesn’t have to be perfect; it doesn’t have to be well said. God knows our heart. I love to pray with others because of her example.
Your post touched me. I have a friend whom I told just this morning I would say a prayer for her. You reminded me to do that and to “talk to God as I would my father”. I will also pray that my eyes and heart are opened. Thanks for all your posts- I really enjoy them!
I, too, prefer to pray in private and don’t like to lead prayer in a group. I would have said no, too. Matthew 6:6 makes me feel that this is not wrong. I personally think it is rude to ask anyone, on the spot, to speak in front of a group for any reason. If you expect them to to speak, ask them before hand.
In a woman’s Bible study group I used to go to weekly, we would stand in a circle and hold hands to pray at the end. We would go around the circle and each person would say a short prayer out loud if they wanted to and if they didn’t want to they would just squeeze the hand of the next person in the circle so that person would know to go next. No one felt pressured to pray out loud or called out if they didn’t want to. It was a great group.
That is a wonderful idea. Everyone gets a chance to get comfortable. It is not hard for some, but for others it is like torture. Everyone has strengths, we just need to figure out what they are, and the best way to use them. The Lord will let us know.