Linda Yung

I pray all the time. Not only during times when I am going through some conflict and crisis, but even for the smallest things. I ask God for good parking when I am about to enter a crowded mall. I ask God to give me self control before shopping at Costco. I ask the Holy Spirit to guide my hands to make a yummy dinner if I have guests coming over. Every aspect of my life is surrounded by prayer and asking God to help and guide me.

As a Christian, praying is just a natural part of our lives. But, what if you were not a Christian and praying and talking to God was a foreign concept? What would your life look like when you face difficult situations? Imagine how you would solve and go through the challenges in your life without God, without prayer.

At Convoy of Hope, I volunteered to be a prayer minister and many of the people were living and facing challenges without God, without prayer. For some, they politely received prayer and seemed untouched, but I prayed for a mom and her two young sons who encountered prayer as a gift for the first time. My heart aches as I remember that moment when God touched this mom’s tired heart with the gift of prayer.

When my prayer partner and I asked how we can pray for her, the mom of two young sons laughed politely and said, “I guess for good health and finances.” I turned to her older son who was in second grade and asked him about school. As I was making small talk, I told him that we can pray to ask God to help him at school.

After this statement, there was this quiet pause and I saw that the mom had tears in her eyes. We let the silence linger for awhile and more tears came over the mom. Gently, we asked the mom if she can share what was moving her to tears. Fighting her tears she said, “When you said, ‘We can pray to ask God to help you at school.’”

She shared that her older son has learning disability and he is struggling at school. She was trying to get a formal diagnosis to get help for her son, but was facing some challenges. We prayed for her and her family. More tears and her sons seeing their mom emotional became concerned and held on to her.

I turned to her older son and as I prayed for him and assured him that God answers prayer, I saw a serious gaze in his eyes as he received my words. As I remember this family, I am moved because this may have been the first time they experienced the gift of prayer.

Prayer is a gift. Every small, every big, every impossible prayer we utter is a gift.