Prayer Works!
One of my best friends, Dana, is of the Pentecostal Religion. I'm a Southern Baptist. Growing up, the only thing we saw different in each other, was she wore dresses, long hair, and NO makeup. I wore pants or dresses, long or short hair, and makeup. Religion was never a tense issue with us and many times we shared our beliefs with each other. The experiences broadened my horizons even as a child.
We always laughed about how my family was at church everytime the doors were unlocked. Her family always spent the night at church...their services tended to start about 7:00 p.m. and last until well after midnight. I remember the first time my parents allowed me to attend church with Dana. I returned home ready to recruit my family to Dana's religion.
Our family prayed at church, but never together as a family at home. We did bless the food, but there were never family devotions...which is something I crave so much now with my husband and daughters. We are never consistent with it, but I keep trying! Dana and her mom prayed over everything. I can remember small sentence prayers over most things they encountered. Now that I am older, I realize that prayer can be an all day conversation with God. There is nothing too small or unimportant to pray about.
A few days ago at work, I had to draw an arterial blood gas, a test that tells how much oxygen is in the blood and how well a person is breathing, on a 23 year old girl. She had already been to the respiratory department earlier during the day to have it drawn. Two therapists had stuck her a total of three times and missed the artery each time. This type of blood work is quite painful due to the fact that you must advance the needle deep in the arm to obtain the artery. The artery is not visible like veins so we must stick where we feel a pulse. Anyway, the girl refused to be stuck again and so she left. Later after I came on for my night shift, she returned because she knew she needed this ABG test done for the doctor. She was nervous due to her experience from the day. I couldn't really blame her so I just tried to talk her through it to make her feel a little more comfortable. I missed the first stick, but she let me try again. Before I continued, I told her to say a prayer and she did. Second stick...BINGO! Prayer works! She knew it did, too, but had just never considered praying over a needle stick. Isn't it amazing how God can speak volumes through one little incident?
Ephesians 6:18
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
1 Thessalonians 5:17
...pray continually;
