The Power of Prayer

According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of Prayer is “an address (such as a petition) to God or a god in word or thought.”

I am not so much a “religious” person as much as I feel I am a “spiritual” person. I don’t feel like I have to show my relationship with God and I’m blessed to have a relationship with God.

I believe in the power of prayer. I pray for many people and many times ask for prayers for me. I realized recently that some people may have felt uncomfortable when I mentioned that they were in my prayers. This only made me pray harder for them.

I pray for many family members and friends because they may be going through tough times or happy times or sometimes just because I am thinking of them and want them to be safe and happy. I pray many times during the day, and it may not be as much as a formal prayer but more as a conversation with God. I pray when I’m hiking or when I’m knitting but I pray more silently than openly, and I am comfortable with feeling okay with that.

While I was thinking about prayer, I began to think about my spiritual life.  

I have always been a Lutheran. I had my first communion and went through Confirmation in the Lutheran church. We were married by a Lutheran pastor. I continue to attend a Lutheran church and I’m proud to be a Lutheran.

Growing up in New York, I always felt uncomfortable about my Lutheran background. I loved reading the bible and attending church. I look back now and realize how hidden I kept it. I think that is why I’m so glad I moved to South Carolina. I had always heard about how it was in the “Bible Belt” so I guess I hoped that I would fit in. When I attended Furman University, it was part of the Southern Baptist Convention. I had so many friends who were so comfortable in their beliefs and sharing this with everyone. This is also the first time I learned about the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and had friends who showed what it meant to be a Christian. I had such wonderful friends who accepted me for who I was and how even though I wasn’t as open as they were, I was accepted. I felt comfortable with them. I joined the Lutheran Students Association and found other students who attended Trinity Lutheran Church. I became a member and have been a member ever since. When I got married, my husband and children became members.

As I have grown older, and possibly more mature, I have felt more comfortable in my beliefs and my prayers. I feel comfortable praying for others and letting others know that I’m praying for them. I have had great role models when it comes to prayer. I remember many of my friends at college praying openly even if I wasn’t comfortable doing that at that time. I had a dear friend, Fran, who always said a prayer out loud, when we got in her car to go anywhere. I loved how safe and cared for when she did that and I continue that practice every time I travel anywhere, even if it’s just to the grocery store.

I believe that God hears the prayers of all people, whatever religion they believe in. They may call God by different names, but I truly believe he hears us.  I try to remember not to ask God to work things out the way I want them to but rather the way he wants them to and to give me and others the strength to deal with the outcome.

I have seen how many times my prayers have been answered. I believe in the power of prayer. How about you? Please share.

Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

Answering Someone’s Prayer

I have thought long and hard about telling this story because at first I felt angry and then embarrassed at our carelessness. Yet the more I thought about what happened, the more I think that maybe we were an answer to someone’s prayer and that miracles do happen. Sometimes they happen to me and sometimes I am instrument in someone else’s miracle.

We recently went on a cruise and one of the benefits we have for cruising so much is that they do our laundry for free. I decided to gather our clothes and turn them in to the cabin steward the next day for laundry service. Everything was put in the paper bag including my hubby’s swim trunks. I didn’t know until later that he had left a $100 bill in the zipper pocket. He likes to hide one in his pocket in case of an emergency when we are on the islands. Later he told me that he had left it in the pocket and when we got our clothes back, the money was gone. It could not have fallen out because someone had to unzip the pocket in order to get to it.

At first I was angry. I was angry that someone stole the money. I was angry at my husband for not checking his pockets before giving it to me. I was angry at myself for not checking all of the pockets before putting the clothes in the bag. Then I was embarrassed at our carelessness because it was our own fault and no one else’s fault. No, we didn’t tell anyone because it was useless to accuse anyone and would only create a fuss that couldn’t be resolved.

Then I began to think about the whole situation. What if we were an answer to someone’s prayer? What if someone was desperate for the money and prayed that a miracle would happen? What if that money was their miracle? We don’t have a lot of money but that much would not crimp our vacation. If it happened to some young newlywed couple (I remember those days of having very little money), this loss could be devastating and ruin their honeymoon. Maybe an older couple would have been deeply upset too because they are only living on their social security and they had saved up for this trip for a long time. Maybe in order to answer someone’s prayer and help them during this desperate time, we were meant to leave that money in that pocket. It is highly unusual that my hubby leaves money in his pockets and it is extremely rare that I don’t check all of the pockets. Yet on this particular day both of us did the unexpected. I like to think that maybe someone really needed that more than we did.

It gives me peace to think that maybe it wasn’t a calamity for us and that someone is out there giving thanks for this miracle that happened to them. And if we weren’t an answer to someone’s prayers, that’s okay too because God knows and that is all that counts.

Maybe your actions today may be the answers to someone’s prayers and you may never know about it. Have a great day!

(crossposted on the Life of Loonyhiker)

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original image: 'esperança - hope'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64858114@N00/252434214 by: Alexandre Eggert