The Power of Prayer
We normally send you updates about things going on in Uganda, but today, we wanted to share a story from one of our founders, Lori. We hope it inspires you. This morning I was inspired to pray for someone. I wanted my husband to join me RIGHT THEN. He was already headed in a different direction with his morning, so he didn't. No big deal, right. Well for some reason it hit me wrong. Maybe I hadn't had enough coffee or more likely I'm impatient. I should have just prayed right then by myself anyway, right? Well, I didn't. Instead I started to wonder what the point was. Does prayer matter? Should I use my time to pray? My mind began it's famous rabbit trail journey of questions about prayer. So that’s how my morning started. But then….this is what happened: 1. I turned on my kindle to read a book I downloaded a couple of days ago. I had to giggle as I saw the title – of course it was about prayer. I read a little and moved on still pondering my questions about prayer. Ok Lord. I hear ya saying something to me! 2. Next I picked a random podcast to listen to while on my run. Now, the title of the podcast had NOTHING to do with prayer, but as the podcast began to play, the first words were – “you need to set aside time, you need to pray. Have you noticed, that the people who received visions of the Lord - Peter on the roof top, Cornelius and Saul (Paul). They were all praying, it was while they were praying that they had a vision from the Lord. It gave them direction for their next steps.” Well, there you go! I love it when God does that. I guess he really is listening to my thoughts and words. 3. Then, as I continued to run and pondered this thought of praying and visions, my mind remembered an event that happened in Uganda some years back. As we were walking down a village dirt road to see a newly dug well funded by Show Mercy, a young man around 13 years of age came and kneeled before Mike. He said, “I saw you in a vision while I was praying this morning. I must get saved. Will you pray for me?” We were in shock. Of course Mike shared Jesus with this young man and he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. We had so many questions, so he shared in more detail what he saw and how everything happened. He was an orphan living with his muslim grandmother. He was down and depressed, so he began crying out to God - the God he knew at that time. That's when he saw buildings and a tall white man in a vision. He saw himself fall on his knees and ask to be saved. He immediately left his house and navigated for MILES. As he walked, he described the buildings he saw to people on the street. They directed him. He eventually ended up in front of us and gave his life to Jesus. He is now serving in Uganda in a political capacity. As I remembered this moment, I knew God was answering my "rabbit trail" of questions. Prayer matters. Times of prayer can help give you direction for your next steps. God is actively listening to our hearts questions and desires. I hope this inspired you! I love to pray and believe in prayer, BUT there are those moments when you wonder - or maybe it's just me - if what we do and believe is making a difference. We are thankful for each one of you, and we pray for you often. We'd love to hear from you. How can we be specifically praying for you? Living on purpose together, Lori Salley
(Image from SNTH program in 2017.)
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