An Invitation to Prayer
The idea came to me as I turned to go home after my morning walk. My companion was my friend’s dog. My friend invited me into her home for a year when I began my college work, and I enjoyed the daily walk with Sidney. The idea came to me as ideas often do when I walk outside, in God’s creation, away from distractions.
“Why not turn my morning reading into a prayer?”
That day was the first day in my reading project—read through the Bible and make notes and pass it on to my daughter when I completed it. I envisioned it as a one-year project, but it took more like five years. I had purchased a Bible with wide margins, designed for note-taking, and archival pens.
The first mention of the Holy Spirit, Genesis 1, gave me the idea. “. . . darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
“God said, ‘Let there be light.’” The creation of our world began.
Later, these words are repeated: “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”
I returned to my upstairs bedroom, “the treehouse,” dubbed by my friend because of its unique backyard view.
I remembered Laura’s class assignment at K-State. I wrote and prayed--“May the Spirit of God hover over Laura’s group presentation in her ‘Cases in Finance’ class this morning and bring about a powerful, successful presentation! May it be very good.”
Years later, I worked in a family practice clinic. I sat with two other ladies behind a desk, and we registered patients as they came in for their doctor or lab visit. On a particular morning, as I formed my prayer for the day, I recalled that prayer from the past. I decided to be a little more specific than the usual “God bless us as we work.”
My prayer echoed the one from the past—“May the Spirit of God hover over the front desk and bring about that which is very good!”
We were busy with a long line of patients. I motioned to a gentleman and said: “I can help you.” We had a good exchange, and he went back to see his doctor. He returned to the front desk for labs and again the other ladies had people lined up to help. I motioned to him. After I registered him, he leaned over the counter and said a very special message to me. Confidentiality prevents me from being specific, but his words confirmed that God had answered that prayer. Who knows what other ways He may have answered?
You see, prayer is an opportunity wherever we are, in whatever situation we find ourselves.
The Apostle Paul said: “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” I take it we can be creative.