He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother

“The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me”.   Matthew 25:40 NIV

“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”. James 5:16 NIV

After the initial fear subsided over writing a weekly devotional, I settled into a flow. I like to stay at least a week ahead so no pressure. At least that’s what I like to do. Unfortunately, it does not always work out that way. Such was the case this week. I had no idea what to say, much less write and it was Wednesday. My prayer became more fervent (panicked). “Help me Father.” Short and direct.

The next day, Thursday, I was in my home away from home, Walmart. I had to buy cat food. As I was picking up the cans, an older woman came up a little bit behind me. She was also buying cat food and was more or less, talking to herself but aloud. She passed a comment that made me smile and I kind of turned and said, “I know what you mean!”  At which point, she turned to me and literally started pouring out a situation she was going through. Now I suppose, I could have said “excuse me but I have to run” or something like that. But I didn’t. I listened to this woman. At one point she stopped and said, “I’m so sorry, I don’t know why I’m telling you all this”. All I said was “It’s ok, sometimes all we need is someone to listen.” I asked her name. She said “Nadine.” I said “Nadine, is it alright if I pray for you?’  I think by the look on her face it was the last thing she expected to hear. She said yes and I did. She actually wiped her eyes and said thank you. As I was leaving the store, the sweet woman who is always there checking your receipt smiled and I stopped and said hello. I asked her how everything was, and she looked at me a little sadly and said she couldn’t say it was good, and what’s the point of saying it’s bad. So I told her I would pray for her. And I did. Was it a coincidence that this happened? No. There is no such thing as coincidence. God put me in that place at that time. God handed me my devotional. He heard my prayer.

When I walked into the store, I was in my own world, being aggravated over certain things, you know, being normal. So, God stopped me, literally, and put two complete strangers in front of me who were clearly struggling. We all have burdens and problems. As I write this, He is telling me “But you have ME, even though you forget that at times.”  We DOhave Him, but not everyone does. Every single person on this planet has access to Him, maybe they just don’t know how.

I think it’s easy to look at people and think they have it all. Or maybe not look at people because so much is going on in our own lives. Maybe a little bit of both. If you have a relationship with Jesus, you know you can go to Him with anything and everything at any time and He will hear. He has told us that! Whether or not we actually do that……. but we know we can. Imagine not having that. Or not knowing you actually have someone you can bring everything to? Our church is called Transformed Generation. We are called to transform a generation. How do we do that?

Perhaps one person at a time. Ask God to open your eyes, REALLY open your eyes to see those around you. That’s not to say you’ll be stopping every person you pass in a store or on the street. Trying to be a little more aware each day is the goal. “God give them strength.”  Simple. Everyone needs His strength whether they realize it or not. Besides, there is no such thing as too much prayer!

I will probably never see Nadine again. I will also never know if my prayer eased any of her burden. But here’s what I do know. God heard me. Of that I am certain. I know that praying for others is the means through which God works His miracles. I also believe that praying for others stretches our faith. It requires us to trust that God will intervene in someone else’s life even if we don’t know them or their circumstances.

PRAYER:

Father, we ask that You open our eyes to see our brothers and sisters. We lift them up to you whether they are our family, friends, or strangers. Bless each person with strength, joy, and peace. Let them feel Your presence around them and bring comfort to their lives. Thank you for the privilege of praying for one another and may we continue to be a community that’s lifts each other up in prayer. In Jesus’ holy name,

Amen