"Ding!" I open up the ol' flip phone to see a text from one of my sisters, asking if anyone of us was interested in 3 goats. She had a client that was looking to re-home them. I chuckled as I put my phone away. I had had goats in the past but wasn't in need of any at the moment.
I get texts from my sisters many times throughout the day. There are 8 of us, and NONE of us are short on words. Sometimes it is a funny memory that someone randomly shared, other times it is a picture of my nieces and nephews, and of course it might be practical information like who is bringing the potato salad to our next family function... we get together a lot! There are plenty of local happenings in the mix, as well as a million other first-world antics and drama.
Most of the time when my family group message dings it is something that will bring a smile to my face. But that isn't always the case. Like when one of my sisters asked us for urgent prayers because someone very close to her received a terrifying medical diagnosis. Or when I got a text from the group saying that dad had gotten into a farm accident.
A few weeks ago I was in the middle of a lesson with the kids when my phone beeped. Sometimes I check it during school time, other times I completely ignore it. This particular day things were going well so I figured I could take a quick peak at it without disrupting what we were working on.
It turns out it was a disturbing text from one of my sisters asking for prayers for one of her students. We didn't get much information of course, not even a name, just a simple request for prayers. So right then and there we prayed. The kids that were sitting at the table working with me set down everything that they were working on and we made the sign of the cross. I prayed to Jesus out loud for this child- for his physical needs as well as his emotional ones. I prayed that Jesus would fill up his heart with His unfathomable love. We then asked Mary to cover him with her motherly love, and protect him. We then ended by saying the Memorare prayer together.
Fortunately, my sister text us later that day saying that everything turned out alright. There are so many times, however, that we pray for someone and never do get to hear what came of it! Alas, this is something that we get to look forward to learning in heaven I suppose.
This is one of the most beautiful parts of our faith. We get to be active, participating members.
I like to think that Jesus is especially sensitive to the prayers of strangers. Most mothers pray for their children, as we rightfully should, but praying for a stranger is an act of selfless love. We get ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in return! And that is a perfect prayer.
This is one thing my sisters are awesome at. They will text us to pray for a client, a friend's relative, or a co-worker. They don't wait for someone to ask them for prayers, they will just have a conversation and see a need, an ailment, or a wound that needs to be healed and send us a prayer request.
Surrounding yourself with people who pray is SO IMPORTANT!! The quadriplegic had probably just accepted his fate in life, but his friends had other plans. They tore the roof apart to find a way to bring him to Jesus in Luke 5:18.
It's never about the tangible thing we are asking- it's about "how is this bringing me closer to Christ?" When we band together and pray for a physical healing, for example, and Jesus grants it, it is to give greater glory to God! But if the person isn't physically healed, then maybe their spiritual healing was much more important.
I don't claim to be a prayer expert, because I'm not. I'm a don't-confuse-me-with-the-details kind of gal. So in my simplest way, I'm just going to say that prayer is powerful and prayer works.
Find yourself some good praying friends. If you don't have any, send me your number. Seriously! Email it to me at catholic.country.chronicles@gmail.com. Abby and I would love to pray with you and for your requests, and we would love to have you pray for us as well! We can add you to a prayer text group and walk with you on your faith journey, lifting each other up.
Surround yourself with people that can find you goats... wait... I mean find yourself some mighty prayer warriors and let's do battle for Our Lord one prayer at a time!
Until next time, my dear sisters in Christ,
Leah