Our God speaks to us in many ways. One way is through our thoughts, the little inspirations we receive.
Before leaving church the other evening, I paused and asked the Lord whether He had a word for anyone that he would want me to share, maybe a word of encouragement. Immediately the name of a distant friend came to mind. I knew her when we were kids growing up, and now we keep in contact through facebook.
My first reaction: this is just me, this is my imagination. Why would she come to mind? And I kind of dismissed the thought.
When I came home I opened facebook. Lo and behold, there is a post from her. She just recently had surgery and she was in pain.
Oh my, now I know why she came to mind. The Lord was giving me an impression that I ought to pray for her.
Never again will I dismiss those little inspirations, especially to pray or to share with those people the Lord puts in my mind and into my heart.
Yes, there are many ways the Lord communicates with us. We need to learn how to hear from God.
And may our Lord Jesus grant my friend a complete, speedy and an amazing healing. Thank you, Jesus.
This is so true! I'm reminded of a day when Father Harlow was our Pastor. In the middle of my morning prayers, the name of a Priest popped into my head. I don't remember the name, so I'll call him Father Xyz. Like you, when someone comes to mind out of the blue, I prayed for him. The difference is that I didn't know anyone by that name. After Daily Mass, I stopped by the Sacristy and asked Father Harlow if he knew Father Xyz. I remember that he was standing with his back to me at the time - he froze and stood still. Then he took a deep breath, slowly turned around and asked why I was asking. I told him that his name had come into my mind while I was praying and that I didn't know anyone by that name. He relaxed, gave a little smile and just said, "Yes, please pray for him." To this day I wonder and to this day I don't know who he is or what the problem was.
ReplyDelete"Lord, please watch over Father Xyz, wherever he is, as well as Father Harlow and all Your Priestly and Religious Servants. Amen."
Wow. That was courageous of you to follow up on that inspiration and to ask Fr. Harlow about the priest. His response was confirmation that, indeed, this was the Holy Spirit asking you to pray for him. I think we need to be more open to these little inspirations. Our prayers are a way of us participating in God's work.
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