I have two friends – who happen to share the same name – who are what I would call “Prayer Warriors”. These are the go-to women for prayer requests because they are well-known for their passion for prayer. Among many godly characteristics, these two women are leaving legacies of prayer. They are my prayer heroes and I often think, “When I grow up, I want to be like them.”But legacies don’t happen in a moment, or a day. No, they happen over the course of a lifetime. So, it occurs to me as I think about the idea of leaving a legacy through prayer that I’d best be growing up right now. I can’t become known as a woman of prayer when I grow up if I am not a women of prayer while I’m growing up.
So I have to ask myself, “What is holding me back? What is keeping me from being passionate about prayer?”
I don’t really like the answer. Pride. That’s really what it boils down to. I spent so much of my life striving for various accomplishments, and seeking independence, that I keep having to stop myself and lay my life in God’s hands. Prayer is surrendering myself to God, acknowledging my dependence on Him. It’s counter to what the world is screaming at us through every form of media. It’s counter to my life before Christ. Trusting in myself has been a hard habit to break. Oh, who am I kidding? It’s been a hard sin to conquer.
As my prayer life waxes and wanes, I am given that needed reminder of the importance of prayer from Fern Nichols in chapter 8 of Voices. Perhaps her words will encourage you, as well:
This is our legacy to the precious people who follow us. This is our gift across time and across the ages. You may not have much else to give. Or you may have much to give, monetarily speaking, and think it’s somehow valuable enough on its own. But nothing is more personal and powerful – dare I even say, dangerous – in the loving, all-knowing hands of our wonderful God than the fervent prayers of the righteous.
Pray when you feel like it. Pray when you don’t. Pray when you’re alone. Pray when you’re with others. Pray when you wake up in the morning. Pray as you’re drifting off to sleep.
Just pray, dear sister. It’s your legacy to leave behind.
Are you leaving a legacy of prayer? If not, what is holding you back?
In hope,
Shelli
About Shelli Bourque