Prayer Warriors

There are so many intercessory prayer stories in Scripture.  To turn the pages of the Word is to encounter people who are praying for other people.  One of the greatest intercessory words recorded is the prayer of Jesus found in the 17th chapter of John.  As the empowered church began to move into the ends of the earth, we read the letters of the Apostles who assure the church that its people are remembered in prayer.  The book of Acts is full of remarkable stories of people becoming involved in the stream of intercessory prayer and experiencing moments which became as signs and wonders.   

As we read and reflect on those stories, we remember our own.  Most of us have been remembered in the prayers of others.  We know the difference those prayers have made in our difficult moments.  We have not always understood how it worked, but we could offer no other explanation than prayer being the reason we made it.  Not only have we known the power of other people praying for us, but we have also prayed for others.  At times it has seemed that the page on which we wrote the names of those for whom we prayed was not big enough.  Like the prayer list which appears in church bulletins, ours sometimes seems to outgrow the time we have to be on our knees before the Father.  

More than a few people whom I came to know as prayer warriors have crossed my path.  I have heard their testimonies.  I have seen them constantly taking on the responsibility of praying for others.  They never seemed to tire.  It was a ministry they embraced with gratitude.  Some of them have been older adults who believe that it is the ministry God has entrusted to them in the later years of their life.  Others in different seasons of their life are just committed to pray.  These prayer warriors are the people who we want standing alongside of us when we have a need for people to pray for us.  They are also the kind of people we want to be.