“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” James 5:16
As a small group leader of freshman girls, I regularly get to interact with caring and concerned parents. Recently, one mother asked that I meet her for coffee to talk about some concerns she had about her 15-year old daughter. I listened as she poured her heart out—fears, worries, and all. As she spoke, I could truly sense the deep love she has for her girl. Desperately wanting to get through to her daughter, she called for help. That’s where I came into play.
I thought about myself at 15. All the struggles I had to feel accepted, the temptations and pressures I faced on a daily basis. The things I kept to myself out of fear. How lonely and scary it was.
I thought about my own mother who worried about me and probably shared many of the same concerns as this mother sitting before me. She always tried to step into my world, and though I knew she loved me, it was so hard for me at the time to let her in. The wall between us was big and cold. When she tried to tear it down, I would build it right back up, concealing myself into an isolated reality I was not equipped to handle.
She didn’t know how to get in, and I didn’t know how to let her in. I knew it broke her heart.
But her longing to know me, her deep concern for me, led her to her knees. I caught her many times kneeling next to her bed praying. She would pray and pray and pray and wait. So much waiting. If you ask her, I am sure she would tell you those years were some of the hardest. But we got through it. More importantly, God did answer.
At 15, God moved in a powerful way in my life. He opened my eyes and revealed my sin, my depravity, and my immense need for Him. It was as if I was meeting Him for the first time and my life was changed entirely. Through that process, my mother stood by me every step of the way. Not only did I experience transformation but our relationship was also healed, all because of her prayers.
Tears began to fill my eyes as I recollected my mother and stared at this sweet lady who cared just as much for her girl. It was as if I was looking my own mother in the eyes years ago, encouraging her to keep pressing on and praying for me. To not give up when it seems hopeless. To always show up and lead by example.
Pray For Her
“Pray for her,” I said, “You do everything you can, and the rest is up to her and God. But always pray for her.”
[easy-tweet tweet=”Praying for our girls, be it, daughters, sisters, friends, or those we mentor is the best thing we can do for them. ” user=”@StephanieMcGraw” hashtags=”#pray”]Praying for our girls, be it, daughters, sisters, friends, or those we mentor is the best thing we can do for them. Because as much as we always want to be the ones to pick them up and “save” them, we can’t. We are limited. But He is limitless.
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