This happened to me twice this week. The first time was unintentional, the second time was intentional.
As I passed a colleague in the hallway, I asked how he was doing. His response was a little off from what it usually is. Not sure why, but I decided to ask a second question, that response changed everything about his demeanor in a positive way. I then asked a third question. The response was similar to the first question. He paused, then shared a little more.
Honestly, I’m still not sure what gave me the courage to do it. I walked over to where he was and ironically I had been told something that made me guess that he would be receptive to praying. I’m not even sure if I offered to pray – I just did.
When I said ‘amen’ and opened my eyes, I was overwhelmed by his response. He thanked me as we both went our separate ways.
A little while later, I was impressed to gift him my first book ‘Walking by Faith and not by Sight’, which sometimes is such a hard thing to do. After we chatted some more, he shared another bit of information that floored me. In that moment, I was reminded that God can use anyone to minister to anyone. We just need to be willing. (See my recent post titled ‘Send me’)
A few days after that event, I received a text. It was for prayer for someone who had been walking through a difficult season. Instead of my usual ‘I’ll pray for you’, I decided to respond with ‘I’ll call you shortly to pray with you’.
In doing this, I was able to share in this person’s moment of need. At one point I was even able to put on my professional hat. This person did not know that I was professionally qualified to guide on this situation, and I did not know that my professional expertise would be needed. But alas, God has a way of bringing everything into a conversation.
I’ve shared on this topic before. The next time you hear of a prayer request, and you’re in a position to do so, reach out and pray with that person. There’s something humbling to be able to pray for someone, but in my experience, there’s something even more humbling in being able to pray with someone.
Dear Heavenly Father, help me to always be attuned to the needs of those around me. Help me to have a willing and obedient spirit, even when I don’t understand what I’m being called to do.
