5 because-of-prayer stories
Walking and breathing a prayer life is where sparks fly and heaven is found here on earth.
- Shauna
Have you ever had your prayer answered and known that only God could do something like this? The more you and I pray, our faith grows and we want to see God do more, more, more. We come to expect His activity around us. This lifestyle isn’t because of what we get out of it. Oh no! It’s all about the other person. And prayer allows it to ricochet and bless us too!
Martha and her girls were outside of Mission Blue Coffee when I took Hershey, our puppy, to the groomer. One of the girls had a shirt that said, “daughter of the king.” That’s a conversation starter!
Michelle is a friend of mine who is working from home like countless others. She’s started a business during COVID-19 out of her home. The team she is building is made up of more friends of ours. After I spent some time praying over her home and business, I got a text from a friend on her team who said they had some breakthrough moments.
Our neighborhood walk is as new as this virus. (Or as old as this virus. However, you look at it.) I mean, we had never walked this route before March 16, 2020. Since then, we’ve walked it almost daily. We pray general prayers, but as we’ve met neighbors, we pray for them by name as we walk past their homes. Ben and I chatted one evening with Maria who was helping her father in his car. We gave her our contact information and she dropped by a sweet notecard a few days later. We now pray for Maria and her dad when we walk by her home.
When we think about the neglected parts of town, the TL (Tenderloin) comes to mind. This year, it’s the tent encampments strewn across our city that appear the most neglected and unmanaged. So I took a brave walk down the side of the CalTrain Station to pray for God to intervene and for the city to know how to help. I met Umi and Roland who were thankful for the blue skies and to have a place to sleep. The sidewalk was very unclean, but these men were happy to be “homeowners’’ with their tents. They shared their stories and I asked if I could pray for them. Together we prayed for health, our city, and for the virus to end. I don’t know what else to do, but pray and stop by for another visit. I believe we truly saw one another and that’s a step towards human kindness and towards God’s Kingdom coming to earth.
Asher stayed back by the fence with our bikes because he forgot his mask. He led the prayer for the sick and those taking care of them. We all want Asher praying for us! I went closer to the front doors of the Emergency Center and sketched in chalk, “this place and people have been prayed for today.” As I walked back, people in scrubs were clearly wanting my attention! This could have been good or bad. Asher was mounting his bike ready to get help for his mom! “Thank you! We need this!” I turned around towards gratitude in scrubs. The head of security wanted me to also thank my praying son who had chosen to stay and not bike away!
Many others are wanting to be encouraged by our prayers. Thank you for joining us on the #globalneighborhoodprayerwalk. We’ll do it again!
But I want you to hear this neighborhood encounter because-of-prayer story!
Just as an encouragement, we pray but don’t always see answers or what is happening even though something always happens. Well, we saw an answer to prayer the other day- we had been praying for a particular neighbor, a woman who meditates regularly that she would have a vision of Jesus during her meditation time. We prayed this for maybe 3 years. The other day I felt like I was supposed to give her a card telling her that I had a “message from God” that she was supposed to invite Jesus into her home during this COVID season. She has a lot of Buddhist and Hindu shrines, etc. in her home. I knew that this was a risk, but felt like I was to leave it at her door. A couple of days later she got back to me with a very long email saying that she had been meditating a few days ago and for the first time in 15 years, Jesus appeared to her during her meditation time and said, “Don’t be afraid, I am with you and I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” Then a day or so later, she got my card and this was confirmation of the encounter. She has now gone to spend a few months with family in a neighboring state, but we are excited to reconnect with her when she gets back.
Hope this builds your faith in the area of prayer!
Jen
All this is happening around us at the same time. These aren’t moments that begin the moment you and I step onto the scene. GOD IS AT WORK. Will you join Him?
November 22, Sunday, is our next
Love Where You Live Day!
I’m hosting a Zoom Call of Thanks
4 pm Pacific time ***** 7 pm Eastern time
During this come-and-go one hour, you’ll get to share and hear stories of how God is moving in the places where we call home. The zoom link will be sent out through an email only to subscribers a few days prior. In the last 15 minutes of the call, I’ll reveal
our December LWYL Day,
some fun family news,
and what’s happening here in this space in 2021!