Call to Prayer

Just now there came into the silence of this place the steady drone of an airplane on its way from where it left to where it is going.  As an old man with a young boy's memory of an airplane that did not bring my father back home one day long years ago, such sounds are usually noted.  An while it is not true every time, it is often the case that when I hear or see a plane flying overhead, I offer a prayer that those who are above me will see loved ones at the end of the day.  There are always visible and audible reminders to pray for others, but most of the time we are not tuned into what the Spirit might be saying.    

I remember back in the days when I was pastor at Vidalia moments when the sound of an emergency vehicle would break into the sounds of worship and I wanted to stop what was happening and pray.  I have often wondered what it was that kept me from doing it, but sadly, the sound passed by and out of hearing without the prayers of a church that could have prayed.  But, it was not the church's failure. It was the pastor's who was its spiritual leader.   

The truth is there are many sights and sounds which intrude into our space each day which could be seen as the Holy Spirit calling us to pause for a moment of care through an act of prayer.  Some of those things are surely a reminder that someone is in trouble and though we may not know the particulars, we do not need to know in order to lift up someone's difficulty before the Father.  Perhaps, the beginning point is in asking God for ears to hear, eyes to see, and a heart that will not rest until it reaches out through the power of the Holy Spirit to offer some expression of compassion for an unknown sufferer, or someone like ourselves, who is on the way to somewhere from where they are.