Thankful for Praying Friends
- Shawn Thornton
- Nov 18, 2020
- 3 min read
Wednesday - November 18th
Day 18: Attitude of Gratitude
Scripture to Read Today: Philippians 4:1-9
Philippians 4:6
People who pray for me bless me more than they will ever know. From time to time, someone will mention they pray for me regularly. Some of these folks are very close to me. Others are acquaintances that I barely know. All of them bless me so much when they pray for me. I am blessed whether or not I know they pray for me regularly. Maybe you pray for me daily but have not told me. You bless me.
On Tuesday, I finished a ministry project that had taken a lot of coordination with portions of our team. A fellow Calvary staff member who was not involved, but knew the complexity of what we were doing, stopped to pray for me in the hallway after he heard we had completed what we had set out to do. He blessed me. He prayed for Lesli and our three kids (Jon, Katie, and Megan) by name. He even prayed for Megan's boyfriend by name. That surprised me. This co-laborer for Christ prays for many people every day. He is a prayer warrior.
A few months before COVID impacted our nation, I received a call from a woman I had not heard from since the middle of my High School years. She and her husband had been involved in a ministry that worked to train teenagers to teach the Bible to children. They had poured themselves into my life and the lives of many students in my home church in Mishawaka, Indiana.
This dear couple moved to the other end of Indiana, and I did not hear from them until early in January, 2020. I learned that Mr. McAttee had gone to be with the Lord several years earlier. Someone gave Mrs. McAttee my memoir (in which she is named). She found Calvary's website and called my office. It was great to hear her voice and hear how God had worked in her life - even since her husband's passing.
As we caught up after more than 35 years of no connection or communication between us, I was stunned by what this sweet saint (now in her 80's) said to me toward the end of our phone call. She said, "Shawn, I have prayed for you and Troy and all the other kids from your church every day since I last saw you." What? Are you kidding me?
Nope. Mrs. McAttee wasn't kidding. She casually mentioned other names from my home church and asked how this person or that person was doing. She had had little or no communication with any of us, but she prayed for us faithfully. God blessed me greatly by her faithful prayer for me. I was humbled that she brought up a person she had not seen in over 35 years in her daily conversation with God.
Whether someone stops me in the hallway to pray with me or has been praying for me daily for decades, the prayers of God's people mean so much. I can see God's answers to these friends who pray. Philippians 4:6 challenges us not to be anxious over our lives' circumstances but to take our burdens and concerns to God in prayer. It is one thing to take burdens of our own to God. It is a whole other thing to take the burdens of others to God in prayer! I thank God for those who go before the throne of grace on my behalf. I am also convicted that I should be praying for others more!
Thank God for those who pray for you. Those prayers bombarding Heaven on your behalf make a difference!
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