I hate open heights! I can’t stand balconies, glass elevators freak me out, and when I am driving across a bridge, you’ll find me hugging the dividing rail along the inside lane.
Some friends tried to help me conquer these fears by inviting our family to join them one Sunday afternoon at Inner Peaks Climbing Center. I cringed at the thought of it, but JJ and our boys really wanted to go. So I caved in and agreed to a family “outing” inside this huge rock-climbing center.
When we entered the doors, my heart stopped beating as I look up at the highest peak – 25 feet! The instructors assured me that a web of ropes, harnesses and carabiners would hold me tight. Before I could say “no thank you,” I was strapped in and signing an injury waiver. I played it safe and stayed on the lower peaks.
Towards the end of the day, our friends John and Laura challenged their eight-year-old son Steven to climb to the highest peak – promising $5 in tokens and a cone of ice cream at arcade next door if he would touch the bar at the top.
Steven was afraid of heights, too, but he loved a dare. The promise of reward, mixed with the challenge and faith of his father evoked courage in Steven.
I watched with admiration as that little guy started the climb with confidence. He made it to 15 feet, then 20. But as he inched past the next face of the wall, he saw just how far he had to go before reaching the bar at the top. In fear, he looked down with tears and said he couldn’t do it. Then he cried out for his daddy’s help.
By this time, John was holding their very tired 3 yr old, and Laura was feeding their very hungry baby girl. I don’t know where my brave husband was, but as I looked around I realized I was the only one standing there who could do something.
Suddenly courage and strength surged through my body. I called out to Steven, “Don’t give up buddy. Wait for me to come to you. You can do it. I’ll help you!”
I said a quick prayer that God would help me and that Steven wouldn’t give up and start repelling his way down before I got to him. In no time, I reached the 20 foot marker. I crossed over the peak and up beside Steven to encourage him, reminding him of how far he’d come. Using my words and my confidence I focused his thoughts towards a higher goal, an inner peak, a reward that would be much greater than ice cream and game tokens – the reward of getting to a placehe had stopped believing he could reach.
My fear was gone. I had stopped thinking about me long enough to focus on helping someone else reach their goal and overcome their fear. Strangely enough, in that moment I overcame mine, and reached a peak of my own.
I became the response of a child’s cry for his father’s help. And that day became a picture of what happens when friends pray for and encourage one another. Like Jesus, we come alongside each other in some of life’s hardest challenges and highest peaks and we say, “Don’t give up, you can do it. Wait for me. I’ll help you.”
In that moment we take our eyes off our fears, our doubts, our struggles and set them on someone else’s needs. There we find faith to believe the power of God’s Word for them, and somehow our confidence in God’s promises and power are true for us in a way they may never have been before. That is the power of a praying friend!
Today, I invite you to join me in a conversation with God and some girlfriends so that we can experience what happens when women pray – for each other. This is your chance to share a request (a need, a hope, a desire) that you want someone to pray for you for this week. In return, you will pray for one person for the next week, too.
And because I love to share with friends books that draw me closer to Jesus, those who participate in our “conversation with God” will be part of a drawing next week for a new book called “Dear Jesus.” It is filled with devotions and scriptures that capture the heart of God’s response to every woman’s longings and intimate struggles.
Here’s how we’ll do this:
Click the word “Comments” below my name on this post (just under the 2nd green box).
Type in your prayer request in the white box.
Include your first name and where you are from.
(If you don’t have a blogger account, you can sign in as anonymous. But please include your first name at the end.) After type your request, click enter. Your comment will post.
Read the prayer request/comment above yours and pray for that friend.
Copy and paste it in an email to yourself as a reminder to pray for your new friend throughout the week.
On Monday, I’ll post about the power of praying God’s Word and share some of my favorite scripture prayers. Wouldn’t it be neat to find a Bible verse to pray for our prayer partner and post it in Monday’s comments? I’ll share how to do that.
There were two people in blessed in my story. But I never would have experienced what God had for me to give or receive that day if Steven hadn’t asked for help. I pray you will experience the power of a praying friend by promising to be one and allowing someone else to be one for you today. Be sure to click “comments” just below this box so that others see your prayer request and you find the request you are to pray for, too.
© 2008 by Renee Swope. All rights reserved.
I dont know how to deal with my husbands son to other woman.it starting to ruin my life and my relationship with my husband.I find it difficult for me to allow my husband ad his son to talk and see each other.Ill always feel jealous everytime my husband expresses his feeling that he want to talk and see his sonI dont want this feeling of jealousy and anger to last in my heart.Please pray for me!Thanks
gina of Philippines
Please pray for my brother who is beginning the incredible process of coming to know his birth mother.
Hello, please pray that God will show me His will for my life. I haven’t been able to get a job and my husband and I were recently told the only way we could conceive is through IVF. I have applied for several jobs but I haven’t been able to get any of them. Sometimes I feel that God wants me doing something else, I just don’t know what. Thank you, Elizabeth
i would like prayer for my sister sharon to be healed of cancer.also my husband john health issues and my grandson dustin molster to be brought to justice.thank you.linda gee
Please pray for the healing of an ulcer on my left leg near the ankle. It hasn’t healed for many months and nothing the doctors have suggested has worked. My sister is arriving from Florida next Wednesday and I don’t want this to interfere with our time together.It is quite painful. Pat Haldin [email protected]
I have a 14 yrs old daughter who will be starting High School in August. There is so much that I want to share with her before she starts school.
She is a very bright girl but limits herself. She was diagnosed with ADHD and her teachers and I in the past have implemented modifications to help her with class work as well as homework.
My prayer request is that God would heal her of her ADHD, strengthen her weaknesses throughtout her high school years and that God would send her positive god fearing friends.
Thank you for your prayer….
My name is Carmen from Holly Springs, NC
Renee’,
I will surely pray for your prayer requests. Your adoption request is near and dear to my heart as my husband and I have adopted two very special boys through our county adoption system and I was an adopted child as well. This is a special calling–I wish you the best! My prayer request is that I be able to find a psychiatrist who is able to help me obtain the much needed medicaiton for my depression diagnosis. My meds have run out and although I pray and ask God for his support, some days I just cannot barely go on. I am so glad that I got linked to this site from an email today. God does lead us where he wants us to go.
Renee’, from Ohio
Please pray that God will help us with our finances. We need to get in control of what we are spending and to get ourselves into doing more saving and more giving to others. God has blessed us with good paying jobs and I want to use his money wisely.
Sandy
Thanks Renee. I loved this;
In that moment we take our eyes off our fears, our doubts, our struggles and set them on someone else’s needs. There we find faith to believe the power of God’s Word for them, and somehow our confidence in God’s promises and power are true for us in a way they may never have been before. That is the power of a praying friend!
Thanks for giving us the opportunity to put it into practice.
My prayer is two fold:
1) Direction in what area to serve in at church. I am passionate about teaching and writing, but I am making slides for power point. It is a needed service. I need to know if I should continue in it and for wisdom in finding a way to use my passions.
2) I struggle with depression and my emotions have been all over the place the last three weeks or so. I’m finding my self forgetful and irritable and those kind of things. I’ve managed before and I’m still managing, but I need some help making it over this hurdle.
Thanks for praying.
My husband and 19 year old son are currently in Bolivia serving on a mission team. I am requesting prayer for their safety, but further still, for God to do his shaping work in the hearts. I want them to receive clarity and vision for the next step in the journey. Many thanks.
peace~ elaine (north carolina)
Our family car broke down yesterday and could cost up to $1800 to fix (we should know on Monday), it is our only transportation….our finances are having a tough time and I am trying to find a job that is right for me so that I can help get my family back on our feet…..
I know these are all test of our faith for us but please pray that our car problem and repair cost are very minimal and I find a job that is suited best for me which will allow me to continue caring and be there for my family.
Keep the Faith,
Paula Fraijo from California
I want to go deeper with God. Deeper, deeper, deeper.
Rebecca
Mississippi
I am asking for prayer for my children that they are set free from the bondages of alcohol and drugs. I also am asking that my faith be restored and for healing physically, mentally, and spiritually. I need courage and strength to pursue the purposes of God in my life.
Thank You and God Bless
Please pray for me that I can find my way back to a stronger, more loving relationship with my husband and regain the interest and excitement I first felt about him.
I’m having a medical issue that is not very serious, but a serious annoyance. I hate to ask for prayer for this because it isn’t as serious as some prayer requests, but to know that someone out there is praying for me would be reassuring. I know the Lord can heal me and help me deal with this stress. Thank you for your prayer!
-Kim, Arizona
I have had a series of bad things happen from 9/07 to now, my brother dicovered he had a brain tumor that turned out to be cancer and he had a stroke on top of that, another brother had to have bypass surgery, my son was shot, and the man that I spent the last 19 years with hoping to marry walked out in the middle of all of this and he did it in a horrible way. I need help.
Please pray for me I have just been told that I have a ruptured disk in my lower back and that I will probably need surgery.I don’t have alot of pain which is an indication that I have already done some serious nerve damage.So it is scary, I don’t know too many people who have had good results from back surgery and I am very concerned. Also pray that I will be able to go with my family to our church camp this week and not be a big drag because of this back problem.
Thanks
Patty from Saskatchewan, Canada.
I feel the Spirit has led me here today. Why, I don’t really know, but it’s always exciting to see. My prayer request has to do with my son. He’s 25 and very unhappy. We are a close family and he appreciates that, but he feels a need to try moving away in search of a better life for himself. I can understand that part. The part I can’t understand is that he wants to go so far away that we will only see him about 3 times a year instead of the 2 times a week like now. I have tried to ask him to consider somewhere closer so that we could at least get back and forth on a normal weekend,but I believe that while he wants to move, he is not up to moving where he knows noone, and where he is going, there is a college friend for him to connect with.
My heart is breaking and I am feeling injured by him. Please pray for my son, that God’s Will will prevail, and for me that I will be able to let go of my resentment and hurt. If it is God’s will that he go, then I need to be able to be at peace about it. If it is not God’s will, I pray that God will protect him from making a mistake.
I’m sorry this is so long. Thank you for all you do.
Debbie in Memphis
Please pray for my husband, Larry, who live in constant, chronic pain due to injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident 3 years ago. He is just beginning treatment with a new pain specialist who seems to be approaching him in a thorough and caring manner. Pray for wisdom for the doctor and healing/pain relif for Larry. God Bless…Pat
Praying for all of the ladies that have posted and especially the one before me.
My prayer request is for wisdom, discernment, and oh patience in dealing with my ex-husband. Also for my teenaged boys to have a better relationship with their dad. And for our Church as we start up a DivorceCare recovery group. Roxie
new job that pays twice the amount I make now which is only 7.75 hour and start a food plan program to lose weight. need encouagement to get started and direction. thanks
Leanne Richardson
Louisburg,NC
My prayer request is that my family will be helped to find a church family. We had been part of a mission for 5 years, but it closed its doors, leaving us with no church home. We have been searching and have not found the place we are to be serving in at this time, and it’s getting frustrating!
Lisa – Fayetteville, AR
My prayer is for our house to sell in Oregon. My husband and I bought a business and moved to Washington at the Lord’s calling, and our house is the last piece dangling for us to move forward and serve our God in this new place he provided for us. Thank you for your prayers….we serve and awesome God!!!
I am just having a week where things are not going right. I am having a hard time giving my worries to God and understanding what he has planned. I have been let down over and over again by people I have trusted and now feel that I can not find a friend. On top of everyting, I have my husband’s family in town.:) Thanks for listening. gaab
I need prayer that I may learn to be a better friend to my friend who gets hurt so easily. I know she needs friends but is bipolar and pushes everyone away for tiny little reasons. She is trying to push me away and I feel so down and hurt that I would love to just run away but I know that God wants me to be her friend, not only for her, but so I will grow. Much love and thanks for your prayers. Susie
please pray for my husband – he is fighting an addiction, anxiety and has not worked most of this year.
i know that he is fighting the Holy Spirit (he’s afraid) i am near exhaustion, mentally, physically, emotionally and financially. my name is Donna
thank you,
Alyce, I am praying for you as well – All things are possible with God!
Debbie from WA
P.S. I will also pray for Sharron and Robin who commented before my post! Debbie from WA
Hello, Pam! I am a leader in my church as well – children’s ministry. God takes WHO you are – His own beloved child – and uses WHAT you have – gifts from His own treasure chest – to accomplish His will. I will pray for you, Pam. God surely values you highly if He has placed you in this leadership position!
My daughter Hannah graduated in May from a Christian university with an elementary education teaching degree. Years ago, she felt God calling her to teach in His kingdom. She has applied and interviewed for teaching positions in various Christian schools with no success. She is contemplating teaching in the public schools, but jobs are scarce. Hannah has medical conditions (spina bifida, diabetes) which make health insurance a must. Her benefits expire November 30th. She is confused (Why did I earn a teaching degree if I cannot find a position?) and scared (What will I do for medical care when my benefits run out?) and hurt (What is wrong with me that no one will hire me?). Please pray that the Lord will guide her to the place He has intended her to be all along, and that He will grant her trust and patience in the waiting. Thank you, and may God bless you! Debbie
This is great Renee. My prayer request would be that I have wisdom to know what to do about going back to work part time (big financial changes this year). I need to feel peace about it and to be able to find something…soon. Something flexible..as I have young children..I have been a stay at home mom for almost 8 years..this is going to be a big change.
Thanks so much!
Blessings,
Alyce from VA
My name is Robin and I am from Georgia. Please pray for healing in my marriage. My husband is very angry with me and refuses to forgive me for hurting him. He has recently lost his mother to ALS and is having a hard time with other issues in the past he will not tell me about. He is a Christian man and says he has a relationshio with Jesus. Thanks Robin
I’m asking prayer for my husband. He’s applied for a different job in his company that would give him weekends off and us more time to be together, also he would be able to attend church with me. He does not like to miss church but with the company that he works for is open on Sunday, he has no other choice, except to quit. So, we’re praying this door will open up for him. Also my children are flying this week on Sunday and again on Tuesday, please pray for their safety.
sharron
Hi, my name is Pam and i would like for my sisters in christ to pray for me concerning worship. i love to worship and i am a worship leader at my church but i don’t feel like i am a good leader. I struggle with whether or not i can do what God has called me to do. I just want to be a blessing to the people of God and also to my father in heaven. I don’t know if I have what it takes to be a effective leader. Thanks for listening.
I ask for prayer for my family. My step son and his wife are very bitter toward my son and I. I don’t exactly know the reasons behind this…but they will not speak to my son…and my daughter in law won’t speak to me. Please pray for healing for my family. God does not honor these situations and divisions in families, they only come from satan, and we only want GOD to be lifted and praised with VICTORY in this situation.
My prayer request is for my husband. I have always had a good relatinship with God and i am a Christian. My husband and I had our first daughter together on 4/20/2007. She was born with a genetic disorder which means that we have gone from a 2 income home to a 1 income home. God has as always continued to provide, but my husband seems to have lost his faith during this storm that we are going through. Sometimes it seems as if he is slipping into a depression. Please pray for my husband and my family.
Hi! Jessica, I will be praying for you and your husband. I pray that God will give you the wisdom and discipline needed to get your finances in order so that you don’t have to live with a financial burden.
I request prayer that my house in Nasvhille will sell soon! I have accepted a job in NC and feel like I am facing a giant with the current housing situation. But I truly believe in my heart that God will answer this prayer so that I am able to move and begin life closer to my family!
Thank you!
Kimberly
My prayer request is that my husband and I will have the self-discipline and strength from God to get our finances in order and to trust God in this area.
Thank you for your prayers!
Jessica – Norfolk, Nebraska
I would like prayer for direction for my life, that God would fill the emptiness I feel inside and deliverance from an addiction to prescription pain medication.
Dawn, Montana
Thanks so much for offering this service. I will be in prayer for my person all week long. My prayer request is financial things. I’m currently working at a job and it ends Aug. 14th and my new job starts Aug. 15th. I will be the new teacher aide in the special education room for 3rd-5th grade at my local school district. Im very excited for this job. The only downfall is I will not be receiving a paycheck until September 25th. I do have some money saved up but I just want to ask prayer that I can get all my bills and etc all together and have enough money for those 5 1/2 weeks with no paycheck coming in. I know everything will be okay but as human beings we worry, so Im worrying. So please pray that my financial things will work out great and I want panic when a bill is due in early Sept. Thanks so much.~~~Loretta in Texas
I just found your blog today and I am excited to be a part of this group. My prayer request is something new to us, and we are very concerned. My mother is 84 and a stroke victim. She has always lived with my family and been near my two children. Recently she decided she no longer wanted to live with us and everything ended very badly. Her mind has not been the same since the stroke, and she has become violent and moody. It is breaking our children’s heart, and left us in a financial bind as we struggle to replace our furniture, appliances, and the general sense of security in our home.
I thank you for your prayers.
I got chills reading this story; maybe because I know the characters or maybe because it struck a cord! Thanks girl for sharing your gifts as a writer and one with an eye for God in every scenerio we face. Kenny and I need prayers for our future plans. So many decisions to be made here in the next month. MAJOR decisions that we are placing before God. Will you please join us in prayer for crystal clear vision and answers. Thanks my friend! Denise
Hello,
I am a brand new Christian as of a powerful calling from Jesus at Easter. He has changed my outlook dramatically and I have not been the same since (thank you, Jesus!). The Lord has been at my side and gives me constant advice and strength and wisdom, but, like a toddler, I fall often and hard. I guess it’s normal, but I find it really scary to get off track and lose sight of Jesus. All this to say, could you pray that our Lord reinforce me with his humility and selflessness, and a Christian friend/mentor to help me through the scary times where I am really down on myself for failure? I feel I should also ask you to pray that the Lord reveal how he would like me to use my writing skills for him. Thanks so much! (This was harder than I thought.)
Natasha McNulty from Canada
PLEASE PRAY FOR MY GRANDSON J.J.(JAMES FLORES JR) HE HAS SEVERE BRAIN DAMAGE AFTER TRYING TO COMMIT SUISIDE.ALSO PRAY FOR HIS FAMILY . I THANK YOU SO MUCH. IRENE
Hi all! Thanks Renee for doing this. My prayer is for my two foster boys and their mama. A termination hearing is set for the end of the month. We need prayers for their mama to know Jesus and stay away from bad friends, wisdom for the judge, peace for all involved (lots of family who don't know HOW to pray or WHAT results to even hope for), the boys' well-being throughout this, and that my hubby & I would trust the Lord with whatever is decided.
Thanks, Jenny in CO
My prayer request is for healing of some stomach and health issues I am dealing with. I also would like someone to pray that I can live my life healthier. I need to eat right and exercise to help with my health issues. Thank you.
Deb
I will hold your prayer in my heart and talk about it with Jesus all day. Im thankful He has given me the opportunity to pray for you and your family. In the name of Jesus I lift up the healing of your family. Thank You Jesus that You know our needs even before we do. Thank you Father; God, that You never give us more than we can handle and You are with is.
My brother is ill with UC (ulcerative colitis). Please pray for his healing, remission, recovery, improvement. UC is a incredible burden for him to bare. I would take it for him if I could. I feel so sad and alone. Though my need is minimal as compared to the others here, I just want to feel the hand of God in mine in His comfort in my heavy, lonely heart.
Sandy in Texas
My prayer request is for my son and his girlfriend,who are living together, to surrender thier lives to Jesus Christ.
Also for my daughter to meet christian girls this next fall at her new school. She is leaving her christian school and will be entering 10th grade at a public school.
Thanks,
Tammy
The software company that I was working for closed a few months ago. I have been enjoying the summer with my girls, but need to return to work (at least part time) or start my own company. Please pray that God will show me where he wants me. Also my girls are in Canada with M-fuge and will be returning Sunday. Please pray for their safe journey.
Thanks, Carolyn
I enjoy your devotional so much. In the past couple weeks they have been meeting me just where I was. Now this one, what a blessing you are! I need prayer for my husband, he has to have more tests about many different things, especially a pre-cancerous ulser. He goes to church but is not where he should be in his faith with God & he insisted that I tell no one about his illnesses. So I was so greatful for todays writing so that I could tell someone & get all the prayers out there I can. Thank you & God bless you abundantly!! Trudy
My name is stephanie and I could really use prayer for my health. I am only 24 and have always been extremely healthy but lately the devil is attacking my health in a huge way. I have been getting anxiety and panic attacks that are really hard to function with and also I think I may have some kind of prediabetic condition like hyper or hypoglycemia. I would also love prayer for weight loss. Thank you so much and god bless!