January 17 - Sarah

Day seventeen.

As I was walking to the back of my local Walgreens there were at least 10 people in my path. I wasn't sure who I should pray for because I have been turned down twice today. Someone will say they want prayer and then when I actually start praying they've actually stopped me and asked me to just pray for them on my own.

Soapbox. I hate that we do this as Christians. We've trained ourselves to believe that it's ok to tell someone "I'll pray for you," and then walk away. This is just not Christlike at all! If our goal is to be more like Jesus, then why aren't we actually praying for people instead of simply adding them to our list of prayer requests. Is it because we don't believe that healing can happen immediately? WHY DO WE DO THIS?!?! Jesus prayed for people in the moment of their need. He didn't write their name on a list so that he could talk to God about it the next time he sat down to pray.

End rant. As I'm walking through the store I feel the Lord tell me that I should pray for the person who is on my isle. I'm there to purchase Zyrtec for my kid so my isle is the children's allergy section. I get all the way back to the Zyrtec and there is not a single person on my isle! But sure enough, as I'm grabbing what I need a woman rounds the corner and joins me.

Her name was Sarah and when I asked if I could pray for something specific she looked at me like she wasn't sure if she should really tell me what's going on. Finally she tells me that she needs a house to rent immediately, she has to move out by Monday. So we ask God to be her provider in this situation and to show her how much He loves her and her family by giving her a home.

Wouldn't it be awesome if He did something big and her faith was strengthened because we asked?!