I was standing in my dimly lit bedroom. It was nightime. My dear friend, who I was living with at the time, popped into my room to say goodnight.
The last couple days, we all had walked, more like blindly stumbled, through downright awful times.
Pain. so so much of it.
Confusion.
And uncertainty.
I was tired in every way - mentally, emotionally and physically. And I knew my friend was too. There we stood, tightly embraced in a hug.
‘’You think you're gonna be able to sleep tonight?’’ she asked me.
‘’Idk… I'll take a sleeping pill…’’
Then she did something that impacted me more than she ever will realize. She placed her hand on my freshly showered hair and pulled me in, even closer, and started praying. For me.
‘’Jesus. Wrap your arms around Jera tonight. Help her have a good night's rest….’’ She said a few more phrases but I can't recall it all. However, I do recall how it made me feel.
I felt seen.
Cared for.
Loved.
Known.
And indescribably grateful that I had a friend like that. A friend who pointed me to Jesus.
My friend didn’t halfheartedly throw out the classic, ‘’I’ll pray for ya tonight’’ comment and then truck off to bed. Instead, she demonstrated her love and care by praying with me right then and there. I think that is the sweetest gesture we can do for a friend.
Why don’t we pray with our friends more?
What is stopping us? Pride?
Are we too worried what others are gonna think?
Are we too scared it’s gonna be awkward?
It doesn’t have to be a lengthy prayer. It can be short.
It doesn’t have to only be after they have dumped all their problems out. It can be in the simplest of moments and you just know that they are are struggling.
It doesn’t have to be worded right. It can be spoken plain and simple and you can fumble through your words.
And you know what? It can be awkward. Especially if you have never done it before. With my friend, it wasn’t awkward but I also know that I was definitely not her first friend that she has prayed with. She has a lot of practice with it.
Maybe you have never initiated a prayer like that before. So, the fear of it being awkward or weird puts a grinding hault on it.
But seriously!
Are we gonna let the fear of awkwardness stop us from pointing a loved one’s soul to Jesus?
Let’s pray with each other. Even if its a lil awkward.
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