A Renewed Burden to Pray

By Donna Shelton

A new bird in my neighborhood serenaded me yesterday as I got ready for the day.

It reminded me of spring, new beginnings and hope… in January! Don’t you love living in Tucson?

As part of my new beginnings this year I am reading With Christ in the School of Prayer by Andrew Murray. It has thirty-one short chapters, perfect for a morning devotional reading before you pray.

I had allowed my prayer life to slip, and decided this year I was going to be more disciplined because I want a closer relationship with God. That desire was birthed in the fast this year.

At the prayer meeting I heard Pastor Warner. At first he was quiet; then he said, “Yes… yes,” as God was speaking to him and he listened. His example poured salt on me, making me thirsty for more of God; making me want what he has.

I remember several years ago I was really frustrated with someone.

“He’s old and you aren’t going to change him now,” my mother told me.

“If you aren’t changing and growing then you might as well be dead,” was my petulant reply.

Hopefully I’ve grown in grace since then!

Life is all about growth and change. I’m thankful for the Holy Spirit who gives us the life of God. One of the great things about God is that He helps us grow and change until the day we die. It keeps life fresh and exciting.  

In chapter eight of his book, Andrew Murray uses the story in Luke 11:5-8, of the man who wakes his neighbor up at midnight to get some bread for his company. We know this story as an illustration of the importance of persistent prayer. But it also speaks of love (he is asking for his friend) and the need (there’s no food to give him) and the reward of such a prayer (“he will give him as many as he needeth”).

Murray’s point is that when we pray for the needs of others (intercession) we can be confident God will give as much as is needed.

Lately God has been showing me the reality of this. As I’ve come before him asking Him to lay on my heart what is on His heart I’ve been praying for the people of Haiti. God laid it on my heart to pray for people still alive and buried in the rubble. The next day they found two people alive after ten or eleven days.

He laid the Christians on my heart that weren’t getting what they need to survive. The next day I received an email from a Red Cross nurse in Haiti. Here is a portion of what she told me:

“If I hadn't looked twice I wouldn't have seen them, but behind one of the fallen buildings there were 3 adults. As we drew closer I could see they were surrounded by children. Infants were lying on the ground... toddlers were being held... a few older ones were there as well, sitting. They weren't playing as children are supposed to... they were not running or laughing.

“We all stopped... and observed. The adults were feeding them. It appeared that they had been given one rationing pack (which is supposed to last one person one day) and they had pieces of rock in front of them. They were taking the pack and splitting it up into about seven different portions.   

“After a brief moment I asked the Marines traveling with us to step aside and I approached. I was lucky... one of the women spoke broken English. She hugged my neck and tried to explain the situation to me. She was a nursing mother to one of the infants and also the mother of one of the toddlers. She had been rationing her breast milk between the 4 infants that were there, all of whom were orphaned during the quake except her own. She looked absolutely exhausted.

The seven other children were also orphaned, and the two other adults were her mother and what I believe to have been her sister-in-law. Their one other family member that had survived was her husband and he went daily to the camps to get a rationing pack for himself, brought it back, and it was shared and split among all the children.

“She then explained that they had been hiding inside some of the rubble because at night the gangs would come out and many of the young children were being kidnapped and sold. She talked for a long time... I listened intently and then pulled out my Red Cross ID. I explained that I was a nurse, American, and she hugged me again. She then said something I will never forget.

"Do you know Jesus?" I smiled and said, "He's my Savior." Again, the woman hugged me. She explained she had asked God to show her what to do... and He had directed her to just wait. She said that she knew she couldn't travel with all the children and her faith was wavering as the adults hadn't eaten in almost five days in order to provide for the children. They have all now been removed and are safe... and of course, I came back with them.”

God heard that woman’s prayer, she obeyed God and waited where she was, and God used another believer to answer her prayer. When we pray for others in need God not only delights to answer, but sometimes He delights to let us know at least in part how He answered.

God wants to answer our prayers for our children. He has given them to us to be a godly seed on this earth. So pray for them often. When praying for your children perseverance is critical. As Churchill said: Never, never, never give up.

I’ve been praying for certain things for a very long time. Recently God gave me a word that He has heard and has answered. Never, never, never give up. People are depending on you.

I’m trying to pour salt on you like Pastor Warner did to me, to make you thirsty to pray for others, but most of all for your children.

I remember a time when I was frustrated yet again by Gods’ seeming deafness. I went to a friend and asked her what she prayed for her backslidden children. She honestly replied that she didn’t pray for them. She started praying after that.

Maybe you are bombarding heaven for your children, or perhaps like my friend you’ve given up. Maybe you don’t know what to pray. May I suggest Stormie Omartian’s book The Power of a Praying Parent. It doesn’t matter if your child is young or older, it is worth the cost of the book!

I had been praying for my children since I was pregnant with them, but Stormie Omartian brought up things I’d never thought to pray for them. She also gave more details about things I was already praying for them.

Won’t you join me this year in this adventure of discovering more of God in prayer, increasing our faith and seeing answers to our prayers as we intercede for our children?