Parachute Prayer #30

Today’s idea is one that’s been on my mind since I started offering these suggestions. I’ve hesitated to write about it because it seems so obvious to me. Yet I realize it’s obvious because it was the first prayer idea of this kind ever suggested to me.

I was in seventh grade. My Sunday school teacher, a beautiful, young newlywed that every girl in the class wanted to grow up to be just like, decided to skip the lesson in order to spend the time mentoring her small group of junior high girls. She started by sharing some important tidbits of information, such as, “A young woman should never scratch under her armpits or dig wax out of her ears in public.” (I’m not sure why she felt compelled to teach us this, but I was sitting in the front row of the class. Perhaps there was something going on behind me that I couldn’t see.)

Then she began to teach us about prayer. She told us we could and should pray all the time about any and every little thing.

God is all around us to listen and hear and respond at any moment.

As she was explaining this, our lesson was interrupted by the sound of a siren going by. Our classroom window was open, so we had to wait for the emergency vehicle to pass. As the noise faded into the distance, our teacher told us that siren was our cue to pray. Someone was in trouble—whether being chased by a policeman, threatened by fire, or suffering a medical emergency.

It was the perfect object lesson for that time. And since then, I’ve discovered many more cues to pray. God calls us to live in His Presence—praying about everything.

It’s not what we pray that’s important. It’s that we pray. It’s that we acknowledge God’s Presence and His involvement in our lives.

And here’s a radical idea: we don’t even need words! When God uses something, anything, even a siren, to remind us that He is there, we can simply sit in silence, enjoying the knowledge that God is with us and that God is with those in urgent need. He loves them. He’s on the job. He truly cares. Praise His name!

Lord, in Hebrews 13:5, You promised to never leave us or forsake us. Thank You for sending reminders of Your Presence every day. Help us to recognize them, and take the time to pray.

And thank You for being on the job, responding to life’s emergencies even faster than 911 and racing emergency vehicles. Go with them, Lord, providing comfort, help, and healing to those in need. We thank You! In Jesus' name, Amen.