Praying for a Preacher

I pulled a book entitled "Prayer" by E. M. Bounds off the shelf tonight.  I have discovered over the years that nothing encourages me in my prayer life like being immersed in what this 19th century preacher wrote about prayer.  He was one of those souls who rose at 4 am to pray and somewhere along the way, he also began to write about what he had learned about prayer as well as his convictions about its power.  When I was preaching every Sunday, I kept it on a very accessible shelf next to the desk in my office.   

However, tonight as I flipped through a few pages, my mind went to another prayer warrior whose prayers touched my life and my preaching.  One Sunday while leading worship in Richmond Hill, I sensed a need to leave the pulpit area for some water.  This meant opening a side door and walking down a few steps to the water cooler which was just down the hall.  When I opened the door, John was sitting on the steps which was strange for a number of reasons, but there he was, nonetheless.     

Later I talked to him and asked him what he was doing since he had already been to early worship and Sunday School.  By the time I saw him he should have been on his way home.  What I discovered was that it was his practice to sit on those steps and pray for me while I was preaching.  It was something not known by many and I only found it out because I needed a swallow of water.  We preachers are sometimes tempted to think the good sermons we sometimes preach are all about us.  I found out differently that morning.