Some days my phone does not ring at all. Other days it feels like I’m living in the Headquarters of Reuters. People know that I love to pray, and that I’m currently not working, so I’m sent all sorts of requests by text and email. It’s such an adventure. I never know what that ‘ding’ on my phone is going to mean…

I count it as a huge privilege to pray for others and I try to do it immediately I am asked. Otherwise- I’ll be honest- I sometimes forget. It’s tricky right now to keep my mind on things. There is so much going on in my head that I have to work hard to stay focussed. I find myself wandering off the subject, thinking about something completely unrelated or incredibly unhelpful instead!

But I know that ‘God things’ happen to me (and in spite of me!) when I take time to pray.
I often ask that He would give me opportunities to talk to others. Some days this happens and some days it doesn’t. I don’t know why. One day last week an elderly lady who walks her dog in the local park and I got chatting. She started sharing about the pain of her baby boy dying 53 years ago. She finished talking by saying ‘I’ve no idea why I told you that.’ (I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve heard that phrase.) We had a lovely hug and then went on our way, wiping our tears as we went. It was only afterwards I realised that she may have opened up because of prayer.

Yesterday, a single Dad shared his lonliness with me at the school drop off and how his separation was affecting him. Again, I think his openess was down to prayer. I don’t walk round with a sign on my head saying ‘Tell me all your woes!’ but I do pray that people would find solace in me. Some seem to.

A few years ago it was all the rage to wear WWJD wrist bands. (Standing for ‘What would Jesus do?’) One of my biggest challenges now is to ask myself this question: Could people say ‘What would Ems do?’ and get the same answer? Jesus left us with a clear mandate and injunction to pray.
WWJD?
Pray. That’s what.

“Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan ” John Bunyan.