Prayer is my jam.
I'm a huge believer in the power of prayer.
This statement comes as no real surprise! I have written several times around here about my love of and call to prayer... of how it was never meant to be a monologue or a long (dry) list of needs/requests, a memorized petition or an emergency-only/dire need desperate crying out.
Oh - we have all practiced that kind of prayer.
Every. one. of. us!
And yet, we know... our God is a personal, intimate God who - yes, knows all of our thoughts and needs ahead of time - but still longs to commune and converse with us.
Our God loves a great big celebration but He is the Lover of our Souls and He pursues us with reckless abandon, desiring an intimate relationship with just us, too! He loves the gathering of many, but His heart is after some one-on-one time to simply be with us --in good times, and in hard times... at all times, He is with us and in us, sticking closer than a brother. He calls us friend... lover... bride. He calls us His own. He has done all the work and we reap the benefits of getting to boldly turn our hearts and thoughts toward Him and whether we cry out or whisper His name... always, He comes. We have the honor of getting to spend time with Him.
I remember early on, as a new(ish) Christian and a new Mama, when He would call to me to pray... to get up and sit with Him in the dark of those midnight hours and my exhausted Mama heart would want to put Him off... to turn over in my bed, ignore His promptings and just fall back asleep. And He would let me. He lets me still, however I have never regretted getting up but I hate those missed opportunities when I choose warmth and rest, instead of conversation and falling asleep in His arms. Still - there is always Grace and His arms are always around me, pulling me closer.
I remember the call to pray, to intercede, to stand in the gap, to hold up arms and hearts and plans, to boldly storm the gates of heaven and approach the throne of grace --for myself, yes - but for others as well...
I remember that it is a joy and an honor to carry each other.
It has been through prayer, that I have drawn closer to His heart; that I've heard Him weep and laugh and love. It has been through prayer that I have felt a tiny measure of what moves Him and that brings me to my knees, if not literally at least in spirit.
Bowed down and humbled to have the freedom to sit with Jesus, Holy Spirit, and Father God and talk about what is heavy on my heart. I recall the first time that God assured me that if it concerns me, then it concerns Him. If it weighs on my heart, it weighs on His, too.
Prayer is a thing y'all... and it's a thing that works! Not because there is a formula that I have tapped into and not because I always get what I want... but because it is through prayer that I most clearly see the hand of God at work in my life in a tangible, marked way.
I have long been a journal-er and a pray-er. I have stacks and stacks of notebooks piled high like stones built up as memorial that testify of answered prayers and miracles and times God has come through - both with the answer I desired, and sometimes with the one I dreaded most. Yet in every circumstance, He came through.
When you add in social media and how we are all connected, we are seeing firsthand how prayer and joining together really can bring hope, bring help, bring freedom and answered prayers...
We know it but we so often forget.
We turn over... we fall back asleep.
But the truth remains that He is willing and wanting to hear us speak. He will wait, and sometimes, when necessary - He will gently wake us up.
One of the blessings of being Family... of being in a Body of believers who are spread out all over the world, and yet connected is when we need prayer, when we want solidarity and some power of agreement warriors to stand with us - it simply takes a status update.
So we got a text from our Nearly All Grown Up Girlie on Saturday morning, simply stating that she was driving herself to a medi-center because she couldn't really swallow and her fever would not break. We didn't even know she was sick. (She has been battling one sickness or another for some time now... just little things - but never fully recovering for long before another battle breaks out. To be honest, we are praying for her to find a new job because we believe it is somehow related.)
Due to some previous issues, we suggested that we take her to the ER instead, in case she needed a shot or an IV. She said she would handle it and let us know what the doctors said.
Yeah. Good luck with keeping us away!
Sure - you're all grown up but you do not need to do this alone. (Oh that independent spirit? It's good... until it's not, am I right? Can anyone else relate? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?)
So, as My Honey headed out to the hospital to meet her, I just put this out there in facebook land:
Pray for our girlie... on her way to the ER yet again... feels like a repeat: Swollen/Sore throat, can't swallow, can't talk, ears hurt, achy, high fever... When our tough girl is near tears, you know it's bad.
Immediately - and I do mean immediately - the comments/prayers came flooding in... prayers for healing, prayers of agreement, prayers for wisdom and quick treatment and favor. Prayers that reminded me not only of the power of prayer but of the power of family... of faith activated and rising up... of the Body, I don't know, BEING the Body!
The good news is it was a quick ER trip. On a Saturday morning - the waiting room was empty and they got her right in, took one look in her throat and said "Strep". Yeah. No fun... but treatable.
My Honey and Girlie were at the hospital for maybe ten minutes when our Pastor showed up to pray. Seriously... in the flesh, ready to lay hands on her and pray. (He saw the above status update on facebook and lives - oh - about 10 minutes away!) She got the diagnosis, the Rx, and came 'home' to crash with us.
I updated my facebook page with this:
"That moment when your nest is not so empty for a little bit and there's nothing really you can do but love and pray... Which is really all you can ever do anyway! #sick #girlie #resting #behealed #inJesusName #bestillmyheart"
This is the Big #SmallWonder of Prayer... of Family... of Faith Arising.
This is the reminder that we are not in this alone... and while we may be All Grown Up and Able to do things on our own... we are meant for community and just because we CAN, doesn't always mean that we HAVE TO!
We are One Body... One Church... One Lord... and oh how there is power (often - untapped power) in praying in agreement.
Our girlie could have handled it on her own. She could have gotten herself to the ER, sat in the waiting room and the exam room all alone, gotten the diagnosis and filled her prescription (maybe) and gone home to her own bed to sleep.
That was sort of her plan... but what I've learned is oh how we all would have missed out on the blessings of seeing God move, of loving each other well, of speaking life and being love and shining Jesus into a bit of darkness... of being family, together.
So thank you to all who prayed... to all who pray!
We are one. We are for each other and with each other and not a one of us needs to face things alone!
Aren't you glad?
P.S. I'm linking up with these lovely writers:
The Community over at #SmallWonders
Holly Barrett for #TestimonyTuesday
Holley Gerth for #CoffeeforYourHeart
* I am a Dayspring Affiliate, which simply means if you click through to Dayspring here, you pay the same price, but I am able to make a little money (you know, to help support my "cup problem"!) If you, like me, have a 'cup problem' - check out this new Friendship on Purpose Collection - I think you will fall in love with it, like I have!
* I am a Dayspring Affiliate, which simply means if you click through to Dayspring here, you pay the same price, but I am able to make a little money (you know, to help support my "cup problem"!) If you, like me, have a 'cup problem' - check out this new Friendship on Purpose Collection - I think you will fall in love with it, like I have!
Do you have a testimony of how Prayer has made a difference in your life? I'd love to hear in the comments below!
Do you have a testimony of how Prayer has made a difference in your life? I'd love to hear in the comments below!
I'm so glad your girlie is on the mend! The power of prayer is right there at our disposal, any time, night or day, and I'm so thankful for that! We have something in common - I journal also, and have a stack of books from years gone by of answered prayer - some yes, some no, some wait. We have a prayer jar in our house now that is filling with answers throughout the year. We are going to read them all at advent - I can't wait to see how God has worked in the lives of my dear children, husband and I!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder to use the different moments throughout the day (and night) to pray! I'm your neighbor on Testimony Tuesday!
Ruthie, thank you so much! It sounds like we are kindred indeed, my friend! So glad that we are neighbors!
DeleteIt is a beautiful thing to have an intimate relationship with Him through prayer and to have a body of brothers and sisters lifting us up to Him and to do the same for them!
ReplyDeleteYes! Yes it is, Christina! Thanks so much for stopping by!
DeleteLove your beautiful heart and voice! Hearing your voice as I was reading was so perfect for this post. Keep it coming girl!
ReplyDeleteAs for prayer, you described its pure power, how it draws us into community and that we really cannot live without it. Thank you sweet Karrilee! So glad to be in community with you at #TellHisStory
Thanks Mary! I am still working it out - but I love including the audio once in awhile! So thankful for you, friend, and how you encourage and support! Always a joy to be hanging out in the same corners of the interwebs together!
DeleteOh friend yes THIS!! Prayer really does work. I look back over my FaceBook friends list and see the ways God has answered prayers. 5 years worth of praying through that list over Lent. Last August, when my mom was ambulanced to the ER, I was afraid to go alone. I sent out a quick text and immediately my friends were there. My fiend Erin picked me up and stood in the ER with me. Such a gift!! I am so thankful we don't have to do this alone. "We are one. We are for each other and with each other and not a one of us needs to face things alone!"
ReplyDeleteI love this testimony, Tara! I love that we are sowing an inheritance or legacy of prayer in our every day lives... Love you, friend!
DeletePower of prayer. And family. And love. Great post. I like the real-life demonstration of people loving each other.
ReplyDeleteAmen, Dana! That's what it's all about, right? The real-life demonstations... the living it out for real! Thanks so much for stopping by!
DeleteLove this, Karrilee! From the insight that God lets us turn over and go back to sleep, to the privilege and honor it is to carry one another as we storm the gates! Love your heart. Great post.
ReplyDeleteGrace... all Grace, right my friend? How He gently wakes us and then waits... and shovels grace - whether we get up or turn over... all Grace! (But oh how we benefit when we stay awake... in more ways than one!) Thanks so much for stopping by!
DeleteI have to say that I'm finally starting to really identify with those times when He's calling me from the covers and I don't obey. It sticks with me. Yet, just as you say, those feelings certainly never come when I forgo the sleep and join Him in my quiet time. I can be so selfish about this. Thinking that someone with an autoimmune condition and four children needs more sleep... But I know that He fills me like never before when I sacrifice that sleep. He makes certain that I have what I need to make it through the day when I've been unselfish and respond to His call...before the day becomes "gloriously bossy," as my friend once said. ;)
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear that your girlie is feeling better. I remember those days of trying to do it on my own and it was always SO much more wonderful when I had those who love me taking care of me. Love you, friend!
(Read above reply to Wendy's comment! LOL!) Grace... so thankful for His grace for when we push Him aside and choose our own way... when we turn over and stay cozy in bed... and yet He keeps trying... keeps gently waking us... keeps pursuing us to spend time and just be with Him!
DeleteI am learning to pray in a new way and it is so wonderful. I agree with you that prayer is the jam.
ReplyDeleteAmen... there is always more! I wrote a few posts a couple of years ago for my 31Days of Encountering God series (link in sidebar) on prayer and different ways we enter in! It's such a lovely conversation... not a one way monologue like I first believed! Thanks so much for stopping by!
DeleteThat is awesome. Don't you love having those journals to look back remind you of all that the Lord has done? We had an ER scare last night. My 2 year old landed on the corner of the coffee table and completely busted his head open. Luckily had only needed three staples to the laceration, which is not fun, but it could have been worse. Anyway, glad your girlie is okay!
ReplyDeleteOh my... so happy to hear that the accident was minor - but still - scary, I'm sure! Praying for your little one! We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony! That means, when we are finding it hard to overcome - well, my how those journals come in handy! ;)
Delete"But the truth remains that He is willing and wanting to hear us speak. He will wait." I have to admit, Karrilee that prayer is something I wrestle with. I get distracted and my mind (and the enemy) try to transform the times I'm still into a review session of all I'm doing wrong. But...God in His grace reminds me that it's not about my words, because He knows my heart. I don't have to clarify and explain my longings, I just need to tune my heart to His and speak with honesty and often simple gratitude. He listens and He answers every. single. time. I won't ever get over how wonderful and amazing that is. I'm grateful for the power of prayer and the way it transforms us. So glad that power was unleashed in your sweet girls life!
ReplyDeleteAmen, Tiffany! I think prayer, like most things, gets easier (?) or better (?) with practice! Keep at it... and as you said - it's not about what you say or how you say it - it's about being with Him and letting Him love you! Pressing in with you, xoxo
DeleteLoved your post. Am a great believer in the power of prayer (I'll leave it at that for the moment). Great post, very thought-provoking. Thank you. Helen {I headed over from Karen Beth's}
ReplyDeleteHelen, I am so glad you stopped by! Thanks so much!
DeleteAWEsome testimony, Karrilee! Hope your girlie is well on the way to HEALED!
ReplyDeleteI remember a time when I was mad at God. I just wanted to give up. Heart and soul pain does that. And the thing that I couldn't stand was the thought that I wouldn't pray again, and I new I just couldn't. Yes, there was no feel good answers for my pain. There was no understand why. It was real heart ache, but I knew a life without prayer was not an option for me. That was a number of years ago now. But when I think about prayer, I remember when I wanted to throw in the towel and couldn't because prayer was such an important part of who I was and who I wanted to be.
ReplyDeleteTo bear my soul, to connect with Him. These are essential to life. I don't understand it all, but I believe in a God who does. I believe he loves perfectly. And, he tells us to come to him. I pray with hands and heart open to his wisdom and love. For me, that is more than enough.
Thank you for your words about prayer.
Dear Karrilee, Such a beautiful post and reminder. I prayed for your sweet daughter. Prayer is so important. Your neighbor kind of at Holley Gerth. Blessings Diana
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Diana... for the sweet comment and more importantly, for the prayers! My girlie is on her last day of antibiotics and feeling so much better! Thanks so much for stopping by!
DeletePrayer really is powerful. It's amazing though how often I breeze through my day, trying to do it all in my own strength. So glad your daughter is feeling better. Continued prayers for you and her!
ReplyDelete