"Can I Pray For You?"

 

 

 

 

Sometime late last year I had gone to a favorite coffee shop to get a cup of coffee. As I was leaving, this young guy was just coasting in on a bicycle as I was headed to my car. We said the usual "Hi. How ya doin'?" that polite people do with each other in passing, even though neither of us knew each other.  I myself had never even seen this guy before, that I could remember, at any rate. 

I turned to leave, since the situation did not require anything more formal, but the guy stopped me and asked "Do you mind if I pray for you?"  Not the usual kind of conversation I am used to from a total stranger, but I am accommodating, if nothing else, so I said "OK, Sure. Go ahead." He was a Christian and prayed to a God that I was inclined to believe in, and it was a pretty good prayer.

After he finished I decided to ask where he went to church. He told me the name of the church, and I had been there once or twice years earlier. (It was Hill Country Church in San Marcos, in case you'd like to know.) This was on a Saturday, and I told him I would visit the church the next day, Sunday.

The next day I went to that church, fairly early (about 30 minutes before the services).  I was wandering in the foyer, checking out the layout when an older woman stopped me and, without preamble, asked "Can I pray for you?"  Again I said, basically, "Sure. Whatever you want." 

Both of them seemed to have a goal of healing my spirit. I didn't think I had anything going on that might give off vibes of turmoil and strife (although, as I mentioned last post, by this time I had been informed of my pending layoff from my 30 year job...)  I continued on after we parted, and went and found a seat in the sanctuary.  I was sitting there, by myself, when another woman and her husband came up to me and asked "Can we pray for you?" (Seemed like there might be a pattern here...)

After the service, as I was leaving, an older gentlemen stopped me and asked "Can I pray for you?" The long story of it is, by this time I had decided I quite liked this church. I continued attending it weekly for the three months that I remained in San Marcos.  It was an entirely different experience than I had ever been witness to in my many years of on again off again church attendance.

One thing that appealed to me more than anything else else was how free-spirited these people were. I tended to tell other people outside the church that it was kind of like being dropped into the middle of a production of Jesus Christ Superstar or Godspell, two hippie influenced plays/movies from the early seventies. During the music worship of the service, many of the church members would be at the front of the auditorium singing and clapping hands and even dancing... (barefoot, some of them, which added to the hippie feel...)

Almost every week I went one or more of the members would stop me and ask "Can I pray for you?", which made it all that much more appealing, even if many times I wondered what motivated them to single me out for these prayers. (In case it's not obvious, I have never really been much for praying, and even today I avoid situations where I might be asked to pray aloud.)

But I do realize the benefits of pray from others. It's not like I don't believe in prayer, just that I have never been wholly comfortable in asking for prayer, and definitely am too self conscious to approach total strangers about doing it. I become more and more open to various things as I get older, and willl always allow someone to try to relate their own spiritual experience to me. Who knows what benefit I might garner from such an encounter?

May your spiritual journey be fruitful.

Quiggy