Prayer Warrior

Drawing courtesy of Ashley Stepp Hatfield

       “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee

        great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” 

                                                    Jeremiah 33:3

     Our Pastor preaches often on the importance of prayer and how vital it is to the Christian’s spiritual life.  He says that prayer is conversation with the Most High God and it is both telling the Lord our needs, problems, and praise, but also actively listening to the Lord, too.  Pastor reminds us that prayer is all about building a relationship with the Lord Jesus, not about just getting things from Him.  As he said recently, “Prayer is to the spirit what breathing is to the body.”

     During our snowed-in days recently, a friend loaned us the movie “War Room”.  We watched it - twice!  It was so inspirational, moving, and convicting.  Such a great movie in itself but also a reminder of the importance of prayer.  

  If you’ve had the opportunity to see the movie, you immediately know who I’m referring to when I say “Miss Clara”!  She isn’t just the essential thread that ties all of the scenes together, she’s a beautiful, inspirational, and “real” character who emphasizes what it means to intercede in prayer.. 

     Watching the movie, I was reminded that I’ve had the privilege of knowing a real “Miss Clara”.  She was my great-grandmother, Beatrice Coldiron Dorton.  Great-Grandma Dorton accepted Jesus as her personal savior when she was 13 and lived a life that reflected that real dedication every day.  She was loving, gentle in spirit, had a servant’s heart, and she was a Prayer Warrior!  

     I’m grateful for the movie mostly because it reminded me that I have this good example to follow.  My prayer life is so far from what I want it to be and I can become d so discouraged!  So a while back, I began writing down specific prayers and the Lord’s answers to them.  That journal has become a reminder to me of how the Lord has blessed and helped me, not just with the answers to the prayers but with strengthening my faith and my walk with Him.  The other day when I made a real mess of an important personal situation and became so discouraged, that prayer journal was a reminder that the Lord is faithful and never forsakes us even when we handle things wrong.  I needed that reminder in a special way.  

     My Great-Grandma Dorton went to Heaven in 1974, but she still influences our lives today, her prayers are still being answered in our families.  Great-Grandma Dorton may not have had a prayer closet, but she certainly had a prayer life!  She was truly our “Miss Clara”.  I look forward to being with her in Heaven and thanking her for her life and the example she left me.  Such a heritage!  I am so blessed!

     Caregiver, if you aren’t in the habit of keeping a journal of answers to prayer and praise, may I suggest that you give it a try.  The prayers and answers  need to be written down because our memories can get clouded when the hurts and hard times come.  Answer to prayer remind us that God is faithful and, as Mom tells me often, God is good – all the time!

   Caregiver, remember that you are loved with an everlasting love!  Stay on your knees, and keep looking up!

                                                                   Chris