“I call on you, O God, for you will answer me, give ear to me and hear my prayer.” (Psalms 17:6)
Many of us have already heard the joke about life’s three greatest lies. You know: I’m from Washington and I’m here to help; the check is in the mail; and, I’m praying for you.
While we laugh at the humor that lurks behind those words, we are embarrassed to admit that few of us rarely live up to the promise: “I’m praying for you”.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Most Christians do pray for others as soon as they learn of the need. But only a few Christians continue to pray for God to respond to that need. Sadly, many of us never place that need in out prayers again. Yes, we prayed for them, but we are not praying for them. There’s a big difference!
In 1990, I had a good friend who invited me to Sunday School at First Presbyterian Church at Kannapolis, North Carolina. That invitation changed my life. You see, I met a teacher that Sunday who kept me on the edge of my seat. I had never heard anyone who had such command of the Bible and yet could make it so interesting. I was not saved, so the words Christian and interesting did not enjoy a place in the same sentence with me. Christian and interesting just didn’t go together.
I continued to visit this teacher’s class and eventually joined his church. It wasn’t until much later that this teacher taught me about the value of prayer in a most profound and personal way.
In 1991, sin caught up with me and I prayed to God to deliver me from my problems. It really doesn’t matter what the problems were. They were no different from your problems and certainly no more important. In frustration, with nowhere to turn, I got down on my knees and asked God to “get me out of this jam”. “If you do,” I promised him, “I’ll change”.
I’m embarrassed to tell you how many times I made that promised to God. I quit smoking on fewer tries. He had no reason to believe me. But only God knows our tomorrows and in spite of the fact that I had let Him down so many times with my idle promises, he listened. Why?
Within just a few weeks of my cry for help, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. One of the first persons I wanted to tell was that Sunday School teacher who kept me on the edge of my seat. You see I was so indebted to him because he was the first teacher who got through to me. For whatever reason, it all seemed to make sense. So I telephoned him very soon after my decision and asked if I could sit down with him. I guess my call seemed somewhat urgent since memory tells me that my visit with him was almost immediate. He later told me that he already knew what the meeting was all about. But God used that time to teach me about the promise and privilege of prayer.
Immediately after I visited his class on that first Sunday morning, he shared with me at how alarmed he was by the look on my face. Oh, he also noticed that I was on the edge of my seat, but he also believed I was at the edge of life itself. He was right!
So concerned was he, that he sought out a special prayer warrior for me. He told her about that look on my face and the concern he had for my salvation. “Please add him to your list”, be pleaded with her. And so for the next two years on every day of this woman’s life, she mentioned me in her prayers to God. She didn’t know me from Adam and yet she loved me. And because of her love and her prayers, I believe that it was her plea and not mine to which God listened. I’m also convinced that it was because of her prayers that I am now one of His children.
I had the try to tell my church about this special friend during a Sunday service. I stood in testimony to what prayer can do and thanked this woman for not giving up on God. Her unrelenting prayer life changed my life forever.
The prayer of a righteous man (or woman) is powerful and effective. (James 5:16)
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