You know how it is…you lay in bed trying to sleep but your mind keeps twisting and turning about what happened today and your plans for the next day. You look at the clock every 5 minutes and get frustrated because you just can’t doze off. I used to suffer with that until I began “alphabet prayers”.
I began to pray for someone whose name began with each letter of the alphabet. Occasionally, it would be someone in my life today and sometimes it could have been someone I went to high school with back in the dark ages. There were times when a certain person in crisis would be my “G prayer” for several nights in a row.
When I get to about “J” or “K”, I would fall asleep. When I get up once in the night, I begin praying for the next person and in the morning, I will not get up until I had pray for “Z”. Now, how many times can you pray for “Xerox”, you know what I mean?! I take those unique letters and become creative, using words like, extra hurting friend, Tanya or Betsy.
It has become an adventure about who God puts on my heart every night and I look forward to my time with the Lord in praying for others. When people learn of this and soon begin to ask if they can be my “B prayer” or my “D prayer”, to which I reply, “No, you cannot request for my alphabet prayers, but I will pray with you now!”
I cannot tell you how many times, I have told someone I prayed for them the night before and they will say, “How did you know I needed prayer so badly?! Let me tell you how God answered your prayer!”
“Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” Ephesians 6:18
Try “alphabet prayers” tonight and see who the Lord puts on your heart. Sweet dreams!