I’ll never forget that moment, now more than 15 years ago. I was a freshman in college sitting on my bed and studying late at night when I got a sudden and very urgent feeling to pray for whoever my future husband would be.
I know many friends who intentionally wrote letters to or prayed for their future spouse long before they knew who that would be. I was not one of those people. I hadn’t made a habit of journaling to him or writing wish lists about his character. I’m not totally sure why–maybe I didn’t want to rule anyone out; maybe I was afraid it wouldn’t come true. Regardless, this feeling to stop everything and pray for my husband was new.
The night it happened was September 11, 2006. My initial thought was maybe this man knew someone who had been in the attacks on the World Trade Center five years earlier. Maybe this was a particularly hard day for him. Without knowing who he was or why this night was so important, I stopped studying and prayed fiercely for whoever he was. It was such a significant and intense moment that I even wrote it down in my journal, having no idea what would come of it.
Three years later I was serving at Maranatha Bible Camp in Nebraska when I met a youth pastor named Aaron, a young widower. His wife had died in a car accident three years earlier, on September 11, 2006.
As we wrap up this season on prayer with the blog, I have been thinking about the mysterious and incredible way God nudges us to pray. He calls us to pray continuously, which so often for me is simply mentioning a name as it comes to mind. Asking for wisdom in a moment of parenting. Safety as I drive the sketchy highway by my house. Opportunity as I enter the mental health building I visit once a week. Simple bursts of conversation to a Father I trust is listening whether it’s one word or one thousand.
It’s so rare, however, that we get to see the fruit of our specific prayers in very specific ways. I think those glimpses into God’s intricate web of connection are glimpses of glory beyond what is conceivable in the here and now earth. It’s a glimpse of the Kingdom Way. It’s a glimpse of a universe woven together with love and intentionality.
James 1:17 says,
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above…”
We don’t always know why we are moved to pray, and we don’t always know who may be moved to pray for us. But may we always credit what is good and perfect to Who that gift is from. When we feel an overwhelming sense of peace or comfort or protection for seemingly unknown reasons, may we turn to our Father and thank Him for the prayers of our sisters and brothers that are surely covering us. And when we feel the unshakeable nudge of the Holy Spirit prompting us to pray a specific and wild prayer, may we answer that unhesitatingly.
Grace and peace.
