If You Have One One Prayer…

I was listening to the radio with an interview between Chris Fabry and Erwin Lutzer. Pastor Lutzer confessed he did not know how to pray for Afghanistan. Although I know we all need to be praying for this troubled nation, I felt a sense of relief, for often I don’t know how to pray either. Pastor Lutzer said that one thing could be prayed, and that was for the Christians of this nation to either get out or be led to God’s will, and be faithful until the end. As he was talking I thought of something else, we can pray for the children:

When Jesus saw what was happening, he became indignant with his disciples and said to them, “Let all the little children come to me and never hinder them! Don’t you know that God’s kingdom exists for such as these? Mark 10:14 (TPT)

When we don’t know how to pray because we have so much conflict in our hearts, we can find that place where you can safely pray. The children are not the ones making the decisions for the violence and devastation, they are left to the mercy of whoever walks in mercy. As Pastor Lutzer prayed, he prayed that these children in Afghanistan, no doubt dehydrated from being displaced in the heat of this very hot country would be led to a place of relief. This simple prayer opened my eyes and my heart to those things that I could pray for on a regular basis even right now, even in Chicago.

Daily, children face devastating circumstances, hunger, molestation, physical abuse, homelessness – not just in Afghanistan, but right here in the USA! Daily, children are subject to having to go through the unending pain of tooth aches, broken bones, cigarette burns, knocks in the head. Many, like myself find it too painful to think about, so we push it deep down inside, not praying, rather grieving.

If we believe as we say we do, our first and our ultimate response has to be to pray. To pray for their safety, to pray for their living conditions to change, to pray that their needs will be met, to pray that someone would encourage them with a hope to live on. Our prayers have power, and even more power when consistently brought before the Father. I repent this day for too often trying to snuff out my pain by refusing to take on the pain of others and bringing that pain to the only One who has the authority to change it!

Maria