Ms. Beth. Every church has one. An elderly saint who is the ultimate prayer warrior. Her days of rushing around in heavily scheduled life have been replaced by slow days of close communion with the Father. I remember hearing her story once of how she awoke in the middle of the night and knew that it meant she was to pray for a certain person. Wow. How extraordinary to be pulled out of deep sleep to intercede for someone!
The importance of personal prayer has become more and more evident to me over the past few years, but it still doesn't come easy for me. I'm not eloquent . . . my words are usually closer to beggar's words. And the act of personal prayer time is usually hard labor for me. That's why it has come as a complete surprise that the Father has literally been pulling a "Ms. Beth" on me! These last few months have been hard ones for several that I love, and for some, their lives have literally been on the line. I've woken up night after night, wide awake with those people's names clear in my mind.
Must. Pray. Now.
I suppose the Lord is teaching me that there will be no rest until some of their situations are resolved. And if that means I wake up night after night and know I'm supposed to be praying for a certain person, then that is what I do!
I doubt prayer intercession will ever be one of my "spiritual gifts," but I'm learning that God can use even the most unseasoned pray-er . . . one who stumbles over her words, gets distracted, and begs and pleads as a means of communication. And if the Lord can hear and use my meager prayers, then he can use anyone's.
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