This morning, we come around our brother and lay our hands on his back. We pray. Some pray aloud with others adding “yes Lords” and “amens”. Other pray quietly and some whisper alongside the outloud requests for God to heal him.
Tonight we gather in the alter. With our hearts seemingly one we thank God for the gift of our PreacherMan and ask God to unload untold blessings on him.
When we pray together The Spirit walks among us. He helps us pray. His power flows no stronger than when we pray in the privacy of our prayer closets and yet something unique happens when God’s people pray together. Maybe it’s the raw emotion of my friend who is a big burly man. His voice catches and he begins to weep as he asks God to come close. And I cry with him. Maybe it’s my teacher who can put into words what my heart is too jumbled up to say clearly. It bolsters my faith and I whisper “Yes Lord” along side him. Maybe it’s the heart of the girl who sits in the back and cries as she tries to explain how her faith is lacking. She tells us she wants to understand but is struggling to make the pieces fit. We nod because we have been there and maybe are there now standing with her. We too are wanting God to increase our feeble faith. In these times praying is what grows that mustard seed size faith. Together this morning we ask God to nourish the tiny seed in our hearts.
I am thankful for the quiet prayers said at 2 am when it’s just me and God. But tonight, I am awfully thankful for those times that we pray together. I am thankful for those times when my brothers and sisters loan me some of their faith because they know mine is lacking. I’m thankful that I can stand in the gap when all I can do is whisper “Yes and Amen” to their words. I am thankful that God in His wisdom calls us to pray together, not so much to change His mind, but instead to change our hearts.
Wow, Stephanie…so much truth and poetry, wisdom and encouragement in your loving words. Yes, Lord!