THe witness an d power of prayer

     Before I became a Christian my mom would talk to me about Jesus and the ways of God. However, I was stubborn! I countered her sharing with objection and nonsense because of my pride and sinfulness. My mom came up with a good strategy for whenever this happened. She’d ask, “Can I pray for you?” I answered, “Okay,” often rolling my eyes. The truth was that I liked it when she prayed for me but didn’t want her to know that! My mom would pray the Scriptures over me, and my spirit was confronted with God's truth and love. Prayer after prayer, my resistance melted away. There was a power in prayer that I could not deny, and I kept opening up. 
      We Christens often take it for granted that we have numerous people around us that will, and regularly do, pray for us. There are people you know who haven’t had someone lift them up to the Lord with love and concern. Recently, I met with someone outdoors at a restaurant. We had a great conversation about Jesus and His ways. Before we left, we prayed for each other. Then, as we were leaving, a woman sitting nearby said to us, “That was wonderful. I don’t think I’ve ever seen two men pray like that.” This began a great conversation about prayer and gave us an opportunity to share Christ with her. She was somewhat receptive and open to us praying for her and receiving some information on a nearby church. 
      I had another great experience with a pastor friend recently. We were eating at a restaurant and after the waitress took our orders, he looked at her and said, “We’re going to be praying before the meal, is there anything you could use prayer for?” She teared up and shared some difficulties she was going through. Then she said, “I was thinking about not coming in today, but now I’m really glad I came.” It is very simple and yet so powerful both in witness and in terms of our Father in heaven hearing us and answering our prayers. Let’s be bold in our prayers and reach out to people who don’t know that Jesus’ arms are open towards them!