Have you ever had one of those nudges from God to pray for someone, and you didn’t have a clue why? Let me share about one of the times that happened to me…
A number of years ago, while on faculty for the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, I met a conferee named Patsy. We talked one day, and Patsy told me that she and her family had a ministry that caused them to travel quite a bit each year. She gave me one of their brochures, which included a photo of her family. She shared a bit about each family member, including her teenaged son.
A couple of weeks after the conference ended, I was at home one day when a message from God arrived so clearly that it almost felt like He’d used a megaphone to deliver it, “Pray for Patsy’s son!”
I stopped what I was doing and prayed earnestly for that young man. “God, I don’t know what’s going on, but You do. Be with Patsy’s son. Whatever the situation is, please keep him from harm. Be with him and help him to feel Your presence. Give Patsy and her husband wisdom about what to do.”
The deep burden stayed with me throughout the day, and I prayed for him repeatedly. A couple of days later, I found Patsy’s email address on her brochure, and I sent her a message, “Patsy, this might sound a bit strange since I’ve never met your son. I don’t know what the problem was, but earlier this week (I mentioned the day), I was so burdened for him. I prayed for him many times that day. I just wanted you to know.”
I received a reply from her, “This is going to bless your socks off!” In her email she told how she and her husband had been far from home on one of their ministry trips. Her teenaged son had been on a mission trip to another country. The mission group arrived home earlier than expected so he was home alone.
The morning I’d received the message from God to pray for him, he’d awakened and was sick. As the hours went by, he became deathly ill, becoming sicker by the hour. He was home by himself, scared, and his frantic parents were speeding home as fast as they could.
And that’s when God nudged my heart to pray for them—a woman I’d just spent a few hours with, and a young man whom I’d never met.
I had goosebumps as I read Patsy’s email and realized what God had done. And it was a sobering reminder that when He sends those little nudges, it’s vital that we pray for whatever or whomever He places on our hearts.
Sweet friend, are your ears open to hear what God is whispering to you? Someone might need your prayers to make it through the day.
…the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. (James 5:16)
