More Insight

Insight

(Dragonfly Ministries President, Mary Hamrick)

March 2006

Pray for Me

I’ve been contemplating which memory from the retreat to share with readers.  There were so many God-moments of healing, sharing, and loving during our blessed retreat weekend.  At this moment, the one memory that I want to share is about a prayer time.

On Saturday evening, we closed our final session of the day and invited those needing or wanting prayer to take a 15 minute break and then to gather back in our meeting room for prayer.  We had been sitting still for about two hours, so I knew we needed to move around for a little while before beginning our prayer session.  While waiting for the break time to be over, I just stood in the middle of the room, watching the women fellowship and laugh with each other.  Having 32 women in the same room can be a bit noisy, and I was just standing still, enjoying the sweet sound of encouragement and blessings being passed from woman to woman.

As I stood still and observed the women, I noticed a couple of young women sitting on a couch together, and one of the women was looking at me.  I could tell by the expression on her face that she wanted me to come near, but she did not want to call attention to herself.  Everyone else in the room was focused on other things, so I knew that I could discretely approach her and ask what was on her heart.

I walked over to her, knelt down and looked deep into her blue eyes.  Over the weekend, I had seen a hunger in her for the things of God and had observed how God was working in her heart.   John 6:43 says that “No one can come to Jesus unless the Father draws them”.  I knew that God had been drawing her unto Himself in preparation for this retreat weekend, and that He had filled her with a hunger to know Him more.  Kneeling in front of her, I reached out and took her hand.  With tears welling up in her eyes and a trembling voice, she very tenderly said, “Pray for me”.  My heart was touched so deeply – I wanted to take her into my arms and hold her – her hunger for the Lord and for the ways of God was so heavy on her heart and she desired to be all that He has created her to be.   But rather than wrap her into my arms, we lifted her into the arms of God through prayer.   We closed our eyes and the young woman sitting beside her joined us in prayer.

When the three of us began to pray, all of the noise in the background faded away as we focused our hearts and minds on the Lord.   I prayed for this sweet child of God, that her heart would be full of desire to grow deeper in her faith and that God would place people in her life to encourage and lift her up.  When I finished praying, another woman who had joined our circle of prayer began to pray and then another.  When our sweet prayer time was over, I looked around, and about 20 women had joined the three of us in prayer.  What a beautiful sight – All 20 women were reaching out to touch this hurting child of God, all 20 women were praying together for her healing, for her spiritual growth.   It wasn’t an orchestrated prayer event, it just happened in God’s beautiful way.  One by one, he quieted the noise in the room and focused it all on the circle of prayer that was taking place.  We didn’t realize that the noise had subsided and that a circle of women had gathered around us until the prayer time was over.  What a beautiful sight to see how God had orchestrated all of those women to pray for His child who had stated those three words, “Pray for me”.  That evening, we had a beautiful prayer time, and the presence of God rained down on us.  Oh, the sweetness of the Lord.

I haven’t been able to get those three words out of my mind since I’ve returned home from the retreat weekend.  “Pray for Me”.  I’ve broken those words down, I’ve prayed over those words and that precious young woman, I’ve pondered why those words have become so precious to me.

What I have come to understand is this.  In order for this young woman to ask for prayer, she first had to realize that she needed help from God, she had to humble herself.  The Bible says that if we humble ourselves before the Lord, He will lift us up. (I Peter 5:6).  In her case, it meant admitting that she needed help in her spiritual journey, she couldn’t do everything on her own, apart from the help of God.  She was admitting that she needed God to guide her, to direct her path, to cleanse her inner self so that she could become the woman that God had created her to be.  She first had to admit to herself that she needed the Lord to help her, then she went a step further and asked others to lift her in prayer, and to pray that her commitment to God would be steadfast and firm.  In speaking those three words, “Pray for Me”, she was admitting that she needed the help of other people in her spiritual journey. 

This young woman returned to her home with a renewed spirit, a renewed commitment to seek the Lord daily and to grow in her walk with Him.  This change came because she humbled herself to acknowledge that she needed God.  She humbled herself to ask for prayer, and she was open to His voice.  The way that God begins to change us from the inside out is when we open our lives to Him to begin His work. 

If you are searching for the Lord to change you from the inside out, pray this prayer from Psalm 51:10, 12

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.”

You will be amazed how God begins to work in your life when you humble yourself before Him, when you ask for His guidance, and when you open your heart to Him.  The next time you need prayer, repeat those three powerful words to someone that you trust and watch God work.

Mary H.