Pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. —James5:16 (msg)
A few months ago, I got word that my friend’s daughter Sarah had hemorrhaged during her sixth month of pregnancy and delivered her two-pound son by emergency C-section. I was asked to pray for Boden in his critical fight for life. Eagerly I did, becoming part of a circle of pray-ers that surrounded this family as they began their long journey, filled with uncertainties.
Daily, I scanned my e-mails for updates about Boden and prayed specifically for his brain scans, blood transfusions, heart valves, and weight gain. These prayers infused new vitality into my own prayer life that had recently grown stale and robotic, focusing more on me than others, more on disappointments than gratitude. I’d been invited into this family’s story where I joined Sarah and her husband Hank in praising God for His blessings. The updates were tender, sometimes profound, and always totally honest.
Exactly 103 days after Boden entered the NICU, Sarah sent a picture of an adorable, chubby-cheeked baby with the news they were finally headed home. I taped the picture of Boden in my journal to remind me to keep praying for this family, a privilege that refocuses my conversations with God.
Father, the nudge to pray for others comes from You, maybe because You know our shared prayers multiply the blessings.
Written by Carol Kuykendall
Digging Deeper: Gal 6:2; 1 Tm 2:1
