National Day of Prayer, How God is in our Midst

What is it about prayer? Sometimes something so intangible as prayer, one must wonder why should we pray? What is the importance or significance of declaring a day just meant for the whole nation to come together and pray?

Prayer to God is about communication, a heartfelt means of communicating, a plea, seeking a listening ear, and oftentimes hoping for a response. God, in all of God's creation, made us human and gave us this very direct line where we are called to pray. Prayer can be an intimate time of communion with God, or it can be a casual thank you over food when one says Grace. But prayer,dear friends, is knowing that God hears us, wherever we may be in life, and that God sees and knows and understands the very lightheartedness of things as well as the very deep and profound things of our hearts.

I sometimes see prayer as a way that our hearts almost bend or fall prostrate in evoking God's response.

Today at work, I had a coworker talk about how he is dealing with some issues being a father whilst his son who is a teenager is currently really caught up into drugs and has been allowing that to really affect his life. He suspects that his son is hanging with the wrong crowd, receiving calls from school officials reminding him that his son is getting suspended because he was caught with drugs, and now there is a possibility of expulsion. As we were walking up the stairs at work and he digressed further and wondering what to do, it slightly became something of concern to me.

When he talked about drugs, I asked him, "you mean weed?" "Yes weed." I casually then asked you mean "shrooms?" He said, "what's that?" And in my understanding of what type of drug that was, I once heard another youth tell me that type of drug, or aka mushroom was another type that can get you a little more than tipsy, and maybe even pyschedellic. Then I shared with him how I knew this information, or what I did know about it because I used to work with youth. He asked me for advice at that point. "What kind of advice do you have for me?" Hmmm, that I was not quite ready for.

So I mustered up my quick response, "talk to your child to have them really think about the consequences." I also shared with him about how I used to work with high school aged youth and they had people to keep them accountable through church. Basically, a different crowd altogether. We stopped in the hallway and talked further, but realized that it was time to get back to work. Before he left my presence I said to him, "I know it must be hard being a parent, especially a parent of a teenager, one that is rebellious". He sounded really stressed out, so I offered a simple, "I'll pray for you." Part of me was apprehensive to say that, but when I think back about what I would have said differently when he asked what kind of advice I would have had, it would be the same, "just pray"... and of course, seek counsel and help wherever it might be available. He sounded pretty grateful for that. "Thanks, thanks so much," he said.

Imagine that, the power of prayer. Imagine a person lifting up your needs, your situation and your life because that is just what prayer is. It is recognizing that in all our human capabilities that we need God's help, we need God's divine intervention in our lives.

Pray today, pray tomorrow.

1 Thessalonians 5:17
pray without ceasing.