Praying Together
This is Sally Andrews. Like Sue, my prayer journey began at Grace Church in San Luis Obispo. I arrived there a young Christian thirsty to know more about God and His Word. I was 21 and single. At the time, the church had a wonderful ministry that paired an older saint with single, college aged young adults. I was paired with Francis Jackson, who I soon learned was a faithful prayer warrior. She not only taught me about prayer and prayed for me but showed me hospitality and love. I attribute any growth that has taken place in my life to her and to other faithful prayer warriors, pastors, and teachers that I have been blessed to learn from. I am grateful for the discipleship I received that built a strong foundation in God’s Word.
After Darrel and I married, we moved to Atascadero. We spent a year of searching for a church in North County and were finally led to become a part of the Church of the Nazarene. I discovered here that worship and prayer often go hand in hand. I continued to learn about the value and necessity of prayer and began to understand all that intercessional prayer entails. My journey was to take me to practicing individual prayer (just God and I), walking and praying with one or more friends, praying with groups on a regular basis and praying corporately as a whole church. I learned to pray for both specific and general needs.
The ways that the Lord has used prayer in and through my life has varied as much as my life has varied, but prayer has remained a constant in my walk with God. I praise God for faithful friends who have become faithful prayer partners, some lifelong and others for a season. Through the joys and the sorrows, sickness and health, faith filled times and faithless times, prayer has been part of my life. At times I have been the one praying, calling down the heavens; at others times I have relied on others to intercede on my behalf. Life is filled with ups and downs, sorrow and rejoicing. James 5:13-16 comes to mind: Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
I look forward to sharing at the Women’s Conference some of what I’ve struggled with and learned over the years about individual prayer, praying with prayer partners or small groups and corporate prayer.
