We have a dear friend in Atlanta who just suffered a terrible accident. He is a young father of four and they are a very close, Christian family. They were on a family vacation in Gulf Shores, Mississippi. He was diving into a wave and somehow must have hit the bottom and fractured the vertebrae in his neck. They think is the same type injury that Christopher Reeve had. He is paralyzed from the neck down. The family is asking for prayers.
As I began to pray for them I asked God to be with them and comfort them. I asked God to heal him. Then I realized God is always with us and will always comfort us when we are in pain.
I realized I needed to pray for them to feel the presence of the Lord and feel His comfort. I prayed they would know that God was so close to them that they could feel His arms around them holding them and comforting them. That is what God does.
The next time someone asks you to pray for them, I would like you to do two things:
- If you are with them, ask them if you can pray with them right now. If you are on the phone you can also pray with them there. Don’t worry, the Holy Spirit will give you the words to say.
- Secondly, don’t forget to pray for them. Sometimes we say we will pray for someone and life gets in the way and we are engulfed in other things and become too busy to pray.
Prayer has mighty power. Jesus tells us to pray for one another. He also promises that He will give you the words to say. Please pray for Steve Franke, his wife, Renee and their children.
