Month: February 2021

Communicating with God is essential to our growth as Christians. As a Christian mother, I wanted my children to know prayer was not a substitute for hard work or a grocery list of requests.

When my son Shane was in high school, he came into my room one morning and said, “I need for you to pray for my test today.”

I answered, “Sure, I’ll pray you will do as well as you are prepared to do.”

His reply, “Forget it, then. If I were prepared, I wouldn’t need you to pray.”

 I am sure I prayed. Shane was my son, and I wanted what was best for him.

What is prayer? What should I pray for? Will God always answer my prayers? How should I pray?

• Prayer is simply a conversation with God. We keep in touch with those we love, and God is no exception.
• I believe there is nothing too big or too small to take to the Lord. I have prayed for the deepest needs of my family and friends. I have also prayed that I will be dressed appropriately for what the day will bring.
• God always answers prayer. It may not be the way we expected or desired, but He still answers. Whether my son passed the test or not, he graduated and has become a very successful adult. On the other hand, I prayed with all my heart that a child would recover from a life-threatening illness, and she died. Now I pray for her family in the days ahead because I know He loves them more than I.
• Prayer should be more than asking God for His intervention in our lives. Friends and family would tire of our constant asking for their assistance, and I believe God feels the same. After all, we are made in his image.

Here is a pattern I use for prayer.

• Thank Him daily for what he has done, even if it’s that you had a good hair day. Every day He provides for us in some fashion. It may take the form of prayer you are sure he provided answered or protection that you were never aware of.
• Make your requests known. Sometimes you will not even know what to pray for, but we are promised that the Holy Spirit will intercede with groanings for us if we do not have the words.
• Ask God to show you what you need to confess to Him. God asks that we be repentant of how we have failed him. Clear your slate so that you can rest in His promises.
• Lastly, praise God for who He is. Get a book on the names of God and use those to praise him. Search your Bible for scriptures that reflect his character. We love to be complimented, and I believe God loves to hear our praise.

The order of your prayers is insignificant. The content is essential.

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

James 5:16B  NIV

“Though she be little, she is fierce” is a line from a Shakespeare play. While I don’t remember the context, it accurately describes the small girl who came into our lives in the spring of 2017 and stole our hearts.

She was tiny and blonde with a smile that lit up a room. She was born with a rare autoimmune disease that would require a stem cell transplant sometime in the future. As volunteers for Make a Wish, we were privileged to work at granting her Disney World wish.

Although most of our cases end when the wish is granted, this child was an exception. Her mother diligently kept a Facebook posting about her progress, and I followed it for the three years following her trip to Disney World.

She and her family constantly remained in my thoughts and prayers during the last six months as the disease progressed rapidly.  She was no stranger to hospitals, needle sticks, isolation, and pain, but she began the battle for her life in October. Both she and her team of specialists fought valiantly but to no avail.

At the end of January, her little body simply gave out, and her indomitable spirit went to be with Jesus.

She was only six.

Throughout these last few months, her mother was sure her life would be a testimony of God’s healing. And, though the testimony was not the healing we had hoped for, it was definitely a testimony.

She was prayed for by farmers and bankers, teachers and preachers, housewives and mothers, coaches and players, a missionary on a foreign field, and too many others to list. Her parents and big sister were examples of faith and strength as they faced one challenge after another. The small town where they lived decorated for Christmas in October, and similar towns, where they previously lived and where her dad had coached, conducted fundraisers. Friends and loved ones sent encouragement daily.

Chemo took her hair but didn’t diminish her smile. Illness sapped her strength, but nothing destroyed her fighting heart. No one will ever know what she has contributed to modern medicine through what the specialists will find by studying her case or what hope will be given to other children with the same disease.

She did not live in vain. Her strength and her family’s faith is indelibly etched on my heart. Her name was Hunsley, and she deserves to be remembered.

“Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'” Matthew 19:14 NIV