Prayer

This is one of my favorite Norman Rockwell paintings. It's called "Prayer". I remember one elementary teacher used to show us one of Rockwell's painting and have us make up a story to explain the picture.

I like this picture because I come from a long line of prayers. The little old lady with the hat reminds me of my praying grandmother.

According to my mom, I could pray almost as soon as I could talk. My dad told a story about me as a very young child. Dad was in the Air Force and flew on a crew for 10 years. Many times he would have been up for very long stretches before coming home.

I was a "Daddy's Girl" and I loved his attention. According to Dad he and his crew had been up for over 24 hours and he was exhausted and wanted to go to bed. He had given us tickle time, drinks of water, and was tucking us in when he says I looked at him very earnestly and said, "Dad, I forgot to say my prayers!" Hoping for a "God bless Mommy and Daddy and Sister Bobbie" he allowed me to hop out of bed and get down on my knees to say my prayers.

According to Dad, I prayed for everyone in the known world of a 4 year old and he swears I prayed for some of them twice. He said that every time he started "to pitch off'' I would yank on his leg and say, "Daddy, you're not listening!". After about 20 minutes I was satisfied that everybody had been prayed over, he told me as I got back into my bed I looked over at my sister Barbara and said, "Wasn't that a good one Bobbie?"

From about 10 years old and up it seems like I was "the designated prayer" for my Sunday School class or youth group. Talking to God has never been a chore, awkward, or embarrassing and praying over the phone is as natural to me as talking to my neighbor.

Several years ago we had "Secret Sisters" as a part of women's ministry. The concept was you drew a ladies name out and she became your secret sister. You were required to send her small gifts and cards throughout the year and you were to pray for her on a daily basis. At the end of the year we would have a banquet and the Secret Sisters would be revealed.

I'll never forget when one year when I was revealed as a Secret Sister. The lady (who was a close friend) looked at me and blasted me for not praying for her and her family. Bear in mind, it had been a stressful year for her. She had gone through extreme illness with a child, financial crisis, hospitalization, and family emergencies.

When she saw that I was her Secret Sister she broke down sobbing and said, " You knew my needs, Why didn't you pray? I needed your prayers!"

It broke my heart to see her so broken and fragile. She had been in my thoughts and prayers for the whole year. Many times the Lord had wakened me during the night with the urgency to pray for her and her family. Our children were the same age as her daughters and we had prayed for their situation even as a family. It was a really awkward situation and all eyes were on us during this exchange.

Hoping to take the tension out of the situation I breathed a quick prayer before I answered.

With a twinkle in my eye, and broad smile on my face I assured her that she had indeed been in my prayers and added in mock indignation "Honey, if it weren't for me, You all would be dead!"