Thought of the day. #14

I remember the day I was told that my dad laid lifeless in a hospital bed. I took a flight with my sister to visit him. I stayed near him for two weeks until he was out of the woods. Before I would leave to be with him in the hospital, I took time to pray. He will just listen. With time he had a big turnaround and began to respond to the treatment the doctors gave him. 

Once he was more alert before I would leave the hospital, I asked him if it was OK for me to pray with him. He would say yes. 

One day as I was leaving, I didn’t ask to pray; to my surprise he asked; “Ain’t you going to pray?”  So I prayed. From that moment on, we would end every visit with a prayer. This continued after he was discharged and I will call him to say hi. I will end our talks with a prayer.

After several months of me praying, one day I asked him if he would like to pray also which he agreed to do. That request led to almost daily taking turns to pray the last two years of his life. 

I can sometimes forget how prayers bond. In the midst of distress, prayer bonded me with my dad. Many times I felt helpless but when we prayed together it was as if the world stopped and we could be in that moment in the presence of God trusting that he will bring peace into the unknown. 

I miss praying with my dad and I am grateful for the memory of the times we prayed together. 

“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them.” Matthew 18:19-20 NIV