A Woman of Prayer

My friend told me today that her aunt died last week. This lady was 78 years old and a very godly woman, a woman of prayer, a woman who was not often seen, not in the spotlight, but committed to prayer. When she didn’t show up to a doctor’s appointment last week, family members went to check on her. They arrived and went in, and the lights were off in the house. They found her in her bedroom, on her knees in prayer, with her Bible before her, having died unexpectedly and suddenly, in that position. It struck me all day… what an amazing way to leave this life… talking to her Savior, entering into His presence and seeing Him face to face. What a blessing!

I love her example. I’d love to know the things God had shown her through the years through prayer. I’d love to hear her testimony of the power of prayer and what it was that brought her daily to her knees. Surely it was something powerful, yes, an encounter with God Himself during those times spent daily in prayer.

My children are studying the Lord’s Prayer in chapel at school for about 12 weeks, taking a phrase each week. They’ve been encouraged to make prayer a part of their lives in the hallways, throughout their days, and wherever they go. Make it a practice. We’ve learned that prayer is first about God, not about us. “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” This is how the Lord’s prayer begins, before it ever gets to us…. then it’s “Give us this day our daily bread, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”

Prayer. Power. “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” James 5:16b

Something kept this woman on her knees. I believe she knew the power of prayer. I pray we know it, too.