Prayer Partner Preferred

Something interesting happened to me at church this morning. I hope that I handled it well yet it troubled me enough that I felt the need to write about it. At the end of each service, members in the congregation are invited to go up for prayer and have someone pray WITH them. I am among the group of women who prays with women who come down for prayer. We pray one on one lifting up the needs of those who come down. This morning, a woman came down for prayer and I extended my hands, offering to pray with her. She shook her head and proceeded to walk toward the other two ladies who were standing beside me, taking each of their hands in hers and they began to pray. That's never happened to me before and it left me feeling quite awkward. Being bypassed was a way of saying to me, "Your prayers aren't good enough. I'd rather have these two pray for me because THEIR prayers actually get to God." Mind you, the woman didn't SAY those words to me specifically but the action spoke volumes. Now I know that I am not a well known "prayer warrior" as others are in my church, but I KNOW that my prayers are heard. My life is a vivid example of the fact that MY prayers ARE heard. No, I may not know all of the "catchy phrases" to use when praying, but I pray from my HEART, and I pray IN THE NAME OF JESUS, and I believe that those two things are enough. So I had to catch myself when that happened, and had to make sure that my face did not show the hurt that I was feeling at the time. I love my church family and over the past 18 years I've learned that sometimes your church family...yes, EVEN your church family...will hurt you. My hope is that what the woman did was not intentionally meant to hurt me, yet even if it was, my PRAYER is that God answers whatever it is that she stands in need of. And if something in MY prayer life is lacking, then I ask that He help me to use the power that He has placed within me to strengthen any areas that are weak. Let the DIALOGUE begin: Do you have a "prayer partner?" If so, what is it about that person that makes praying with them so effective?

Talk to me! Til next time...