Answered Prayers

by Teresa Bell Kindred

    While I'm not rich or famous, my family has all that we need and then some. I enjoy a certain measure of notoriety in my small community as "Nick, Rachel, Justin, Grant and Russell's mom" and that's as famous as I want to get. But I had never considered myself the answer to someone's prayers until it ocurred to me that my mother most likely prayed many of the same prayers for me that I am now praying for my children.

    My oldest son is 19 and is in his "identity crisis" stage. "Please God," I pray, "Help him find his way." He wants to date but is shy and insecure. "Dear God," I whisper, "Please help him find a good Christian girl who will lift him up closer to you and when the time comes, be the kind of wife he needs."

    My daughter is in her senior year of high school and is undecided about which college to attend. Morning and night I pray "God help her make the right decision. Guide her to a place where she'll meet other Christian teens who are seeking ways to serve you."

    My middle schooler occasionally has a "bad boy" attitude when it comes to sports. "God," I plead, "Show him the way to be a gracious loser and a humble winner."

    Our twins will be starting the school year in different classrooms for the first time this fall. "Lord, be with them," I ask, "Give them courage and strength and confidence to be independent at times, but always dependant on you."

    And always, always I pray for their spiritual well being and that they walk in Jesus's footsteps.

    I know without a doubt that my mother prayed for me during my rebellious teen years, and beyond. Thankfully she lived long enough to see me return to my Christian upbringing. When she became ill with colon cancer at the age of 50, I was working hard to achieve my dream of becoming a published writer.

    "Don't give up," she said. "You can do it. I believe in you."

    My first book was published in 1995, five years after her death.

    Whatever measure of success I achieve as a writer, a wife, and a mother, I know it is a direct result of two things: the grace of God and my mother's prayers.

    Don't ever fall into Satan's trap of feeling small and insignificant. God loves you. He's watching over you, and someone, somewhere, is praying for you. You are the answer to someone's prayers.

Posted: 08/23/2001
URL: http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200108/20010823_prayers.html

(c) 2001 Teresa Bell Kindred, <kindred@mail.scrtc.com> - <http://www.teresakindred.com>. Used by permission.

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