Day Five: God Overhears

It happened again. God’s been listening in on my thoughts.  A friend was heavy on my heart the other day.  We hadn’t seen each other in months.  But during my quiet time, she crossed my mind.  I even jotted  her name down on my prayer list.  I breathed a quick prayer. “Lord, I sense Sandra (not her real name) is in trouble. You know what she needs, so be with her.” End of conversation.  Not a very eloquent prayer.

But minutes later,  I got a text.  An urgent crisis had erupted in Sandra’s family.  After hanging up the phone, I paused. How amazing to get the nudge to pray followed by the phone call.   Maybe you’ve had a similar experience.  Then it dawned on me.  Perhaps I had just seen God at work.

This is Day Five of our 21 Day Watch and I’m in an experimental mode.  I’ve been more attentive than usual, watching for ways God may be at work all around me. So instead of breezing right past this little incident, I took time to reflect on what I could learn about watchfulness.

First, I was already praying when I got the “memo” to pray for Sandra.  Normally, I might have treated it as a random thought, but I this time I paid attention.  Perhaps I should be more alert to these random thoughts when they cross my mind and ask:  “God, is this person on Your heart today?”

Second,  I took action to not only pray, but to prayerfully explore practical ways I could assist my friend with her crisis.  In other words, I put feet on my prayers.

Third, I continued to pray for Sandra.  I’m still praying.  I’ve asked the Holy Spirit to nudge me to pray for her on an as-needed basis, day or night.  I’m asking for His wisdom and His words. I’m watching for God’s big picture as it unfolds.

This incident has caused me to wonder how many times I’ve missed God’s nudges to pray because life got too busy or too noisy for me to hear His voice.  As part of this 21 Day Watch, I want to become more intentional.  I want to really listen and be ready to pray for the person who is on God’s heart.

Morning by morning, I lay my requests before You, and eagerly watch for the answers (Psalm 5:3).