Pray - Can I Pray For You?
// Jeanne DeTellis Loudon
Our Haitian worship leaders pray at the beginning of each church service: “Praise the Lord!
“Never Stop Praying! Use prayer as a gift to give and a weapon to overcome.”
We are not in a hospital and we are not in a prison!” Yes, praise the Lord! Those are two places that are undesirable and uncomfortable.
The prayers of the saints; it is an eternal precious incense—filling golden bowls for eternity. God is calling His people, a holy people, to pray. The more we pray, the more we remember our God who is greater than the need we are presenting—full of compassion and mercy ever present (Psalm 46:7). When we pray, we often sing a song to inspire our belief for a miracle and remember a verse in the Bible, and thus use the Word to shout and shove the enemy away.
In our May 2021 newsletter, I felt inspired to write on how life is good. But I also felt that just maybe I was provoking the enemy.
My mother often quoted Revelation 12:12, and she would add that her mother said it often. So now I tell you what my mother and grandmother said of the devil, “…he is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” Every day, news and needs, and the unimaginable shocks our hearts, and we need to pray.
On May 4, with our car fully packed to overnight in Detroit for an early flight to Puerto Plata, Ted had a specialist ophthalmologist appointment because he was having double vision. We were advised not to travel. God’s people began to pray. Ted’s vision was totally restored within two weeks and the doctor even canceled Ted’s MRI.
Then, I got vertigo. I’ve never had it before, and my first thought was that I was having a stroke. On a four-day trip to see Ted’s family in Wyoming, the high altitude seemed to intensify my vertigo. I fell and badly sprained my ankle. That day we had a six-hour road trip to get to a friend’s home. Trying to take a step up with crutches, I passed out. I was admitted to a hospital for three days, and it was so sacred (sacred not scared) to be alone with God…I just overflowed the golden bowls with prayers. There wasn’t family or friends to visit. But in my private room, in my discomfort, I just prayed and prayed all day and all night. Now, I’m beginning to feel like the crippled man who was walking and leaping and praising God.
When my son, George, Jr., turned 60 last month he said, “The day I was born was an appointed day by God. And the day I die is an appointed day by God.” True. But we do not get to choose either day. Nor do we know the circumstances that lead to our second appointment with God. So we pray and enjoy the ride.
Life is still good, and I love to hear of your prayer requests so that I can pray. Our mission office sends me your prayer requests and I love to pray and rejoice when God answers prayer. I love to fill the golden bowls with incense, to call the Father with confidence, with a calming comfort because God holds each prayer…recorded and treasured forever. Can I pray for you? ~Jeanne DeTellis Loudon
