What does that mean? The good thoughts really aren't doing anything, other than letting the owner of the post know that he/she is being thought of, which in itself can bring encouragement. But "prayers", what does that mean? Does that mean that I will be praying for you off and on all day? Does that mean that I sat here and said a prayer for you? Does that mean, I'm sorry for what you are going though, and I want to blow you off, so I'll just put a sympathetic comment? Well, all but the last one are good.
When I'm having a bad day, I like to know that others are thinking of me and hoping I'm having a better one. When I have an illness or a pressing matter I like to know that someone looked at my post and said, "dear Lord, help Kristi in this matter." When I have something long and drawn out I like to know that someone is honestly keeping me in his/her prayers more than that one second.
Years ago I knew if I was sick in the night, if something was horribly wrong, I could call my grandma. My grandma would pick up the phone no matter what time it was, and she always had a prayer for me. I went through a gut wrenching pregnancy, and she was praying for me the whole time.
What is a prayer? Well, I guess its a moment of time when I stop and actually think of one thing, rather than the millions of things going on around me, and I concentrate on one entity, God. Then its the joining of my faith with someone else, and the speaking out of that union. It is a declaration of faith, knowing that God is in control, and there is a way out of the situation.
When we stop and pray for our food, what really are we doing? We are taking one moment to acknowledge that we didn't get here on our own, that we were given graces to receive in most cases, a bounty. I don't pray before every meal, nor do we as a family take the dinner prayer too seriously. I like to think God has a sense of humor, and He knows, just the fact that we paused is an act of thankfulness.
An unbeliever would say that prayer is just a way of getting a burden off of your chest which in fact then lightens your load, and that is why you feel more at peace after you pray. I believe half of that is true, it does lighten our load to share with with someone else, but when we share it with the Almighty, we know we put it in His hands, and we surrender trying to do things our way, and acknowledge our need for Him.
Sometimes my prayers have gone unanswered. Sometimes I have felt like God didn't hear me. Sometimes I've not wanted to pray because I was angry at God. I think this happens to everyone. I have prayed for people to be healed, they weren't healed. I have prayed for myself to be healed, I wasn't healed. I have prayed for people to live, they died. I have no magical solution to why prayer does or doesn't go our way in our timing.
At our church we have what is called a "prayer chain". Its a group of people who have said, yes, when I get that phone call, I will stop what I am doing and pray, and then call the next person on the list and they will pray, I am one of those people. I know that when I was in terrible pain, or my child was ill, or I needed peace, that there were people praying for me, just knowing that gave me comfort.
Psalms says that its God who arms me with strength and provides me with comfort. The real peace comes from the Father who is always available to give strength, peace, and comfort for us to bear anything.
Sometimes we pray for things that don't make sense, I prayed for my grandma to die. She was ready to go to heaven. We were so convinced of this that we joked at her bedside, "have you heard Gabriel's horn?" She would say, "I'm listening, but I haven't heard it yet." I spent her last day at her bedside along with many of my family. As I walked out of the room to leave, I looked at her, and tears welled up in our eyes, and she said, "I know honey, I'll see you." What she meant was, I will see you in heaven. Very softly in the middle of the night she heard Gabriel blow his horn and she passed with no pain on in to glory.
Prayer is so amazing, it can be a noun, a verb, a state of being. God doesn't fit into one box, and neither do His gifts, that is why we can pray, be in prayer, or offer up prayers, and this is only one gift from God with many intricate parts.
If you say "prayers", take time to pray. If you see that I have commented, "prayers" know that I am praying or have prayed. Take comfort in the fact that The God, the Maker of the universe knows your name, and your name is being uplifted to Him in that moment.
K
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