Click For Audio Version
9 Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. I Sam. 3:9 KJV
I woke in the night from a sound sleep with the jarring thought, “Pray for Bill Jenkins!” (name has been changed )
Problem was, I didn’t know a Bill Jenkins.
Never had.
I knew not to question God, however, so I prayed for the unknown person before falling back to sleep.
The next morning the unknown Bill was again in my prayers.
By, then, curiosity had gotten the better of me regarding this strange “dream” and call to pray.
Who was Bill Jenkins?
I turned to Facebook.
There were a good number of Bill Jenkins. My finger trailed down the lengthy list. I paused at number four–my slight touch and hesitation caused the profile to open.
My eyes fell on his most recent post, “Please pray for me…”
Chills coursed up and down my arms. This was the one.
He was a pastor, seeking prayers.
I prayed again.
I read the comments on his post. Many were from members of his congregation.
My comment explained my unusual means of arriving at his prayer request.
Bill’s church members began commenting on my comment.
I began marveling at the way God works.
Bill and I still keep in touch for prayer needs and God continues to keep amazing those of us who love Him.
My husband, also a pastor, began musing upon this unusual nudge from God to me.
Maybe it wasn’t so unusual after all. Maybe God gives these calls for us to pray for others often.
Could it be that for each person needing prayer, many are asked to pray?
Perhaps, we often don’t listen to those whispers or attend to those nudges God sends. Maybe we ignore them when they come.
How interconnected are we to others due to God’s touch which is both gentle and yet so powerful?
I later learned that Bill had overcome tremendous difficulties in his life. Perhaps challenges remained.
God knew what that day held for him.
Most likely, I will never know.
I knew only that God said to pray.
Truly, I don’t want to miss a single God directive from here on.
I don’t want to let awareness wane on my part.
I want to be used when God allows us to be a part of His miraculous work.
Don’t you?