Yesterday, I was able to witness a beautiful and simple prayer that convicted me. My daughter, eight years older than my son, often gives her brother a hard time. She reasons that that is what older siblings do. My son also drives her and I crazy sometimes with the loud noise and bouncing off the walls. However, regardless of how much they argue or I fuss, we know that we love one another.

Yesterday, I saw that love in its purest form. Jayla was in one room, and I was in another close to her, and Stephen was in the hallway when she sneezed. Within the exact moment of her sneezing, I said, God, bless you, because it is automatic, and I heard my son say, God, Jesus, don’t let Jayla get sick. Then he continued to play.

First, my heart melted because of his sincerity and faith. Then, the things that others are going through or have mentioned to me, big or small, that I hadn’t prayed for flooded my mind like a river. See, I pray for others every day. I write their name on my prayer list and lift them during my prayer time. I sometimes pray for people in the moment of them telling or asking me for prayer, but only if it’s an URGENT prayer. And I pray for others when I’m alone or able to take a walk. Yet, other times, the business of the day or distractions keep me from praying at the moment. But not praying at the moment sometimes results in me praying days after when I remember to write a name or situation on my list, and there are times that I have forgotten to pray for a problem or a person altogether.

God used my son to grow me. He taught me the valuable prayer lesson, which I knew already as head knowledge and not heart knowledge. We can think of prayer as a long, drawn-out conversation where we have to know all of the right words to pray for a person or what they are going through when in fact, we can say God be what they need, be with them, or something similar. We shouldn’t wait to pray. Prayer is a constant and continual act in every moment of every day.

When someone asks you to pray for them, do you pray? When do you pray? Do you pray for others without them asking?

“Pray continually.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17 NIV
“Brothers and sisters, pray for us.” 1 Thessalonians 5:25 NIV
“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy” Philippians 1:4 NIV