My son inadvertently woke me when he arrived home from work at 1 a.m. Although I can fall asleep in minutes when I first go to bed, it always takes me a long time to get back to sleep once awakened. I’ve learned not to stress about it—watching the clock and thinking about my 6 a.m. alarm only makes things worse—and use the time for prayer instead. I keep it simple: say a name, and say the Lord’s Prayer on that person’s behalf.
Some of the people I pray for are those who caused me distress or difficulty in the past. Many I haven’t seen in years, and some I will never see again. In a way that makes the process of praying for others cleaner: the people for whom I pray may never know they have been lifted up to the Lord, may never know I was among those who cried out for them in the middle of the night, may never even remember who I am or our long-ago encounter.
Eventually, as I grew sleepy, remembering where I was in the Lord’s Prayer became harder. The last thought I remember before my alarm rang at 6 a.m. surprised me: I don’t know who has prayed for me in the middle of the night. I may never see or perhaps even meet some of the people who have shaped the path of my faith.
It’s truly amazing how much we neither see nor know about how God is working in our lives. So today I am offering a new prayer, asking that everyone who has ever prayed for me be blessed as they have blessed me. Amen.
