Somebody prayed for me, had me on their mind,
They took the time and prayed for me.
I’m so glad they prayed, I’m so glad they prayed for me.
“Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it?” James 2:14
“You’ve been in my spirit all week and I’ve been praying for you. But this morning, I said … I’m going to reach beyond the prayer and call you.” This was my friend’s message to me early Friday morning. Her spirit’s intuition was laser sharp and the hour-long conversation that followed was exactly what both of us needed. We prayed over a specific situation and less than five minutes later, the resolution came. Her initial prayers covered me, but her taking the step to follow up and directly reach out to me connected me.
The encounter reminded me of the quote from one of my prophets and sheroes, civil rights advocate and justice warrior Fannie Lou Hamer. “You can pray until you faint, but unless you get up and try to do something, God is not going to put it in your lap.” The sages taught me that after we pray, we need to put legs on it by stepping out in the direction of what we prayed for. Prayers fortify us to take the actions that we are called to do. During our conversation, my friend shared that she was reminded that prayer is not a substitute for following through on what was shared during the prayer. “For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half starved and say, ‘Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!’ and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup — where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?” James 2:15-17
This scripture confirms that prayers need legs. After praying, we need to walk in the direction of what we prayed about. There was a man who was a paraplegic and his friends cared and prayed for him. But these friends did something more and put legs on their prayers. They heard that Jesus was nearby and they carried him there. The place was packed and the entrance was jammed. They put legs on their prayers. When they weren’t able to get in because of the crowd, they removed part of the roof and lowered the paraplegic on his stretcher. Impressed by their bold belief, Jesus eventually healed him and he walked out on his own. I believe Jesus was impressed by those who knew the connection between prayer — God talk and God action.
We live in a world that is waiting for us to follow through on what we prayed for. Prayers fortify us to take the actions that we are called to do. Put legs on those prayers and walk in the direction of the words of our prayers.
My dear friend prayed for me, had me on her mind,
She took the time and prayed for me.
I’m so glad she prayed and put legs on the prayers and reached out to me.
Praying first and walking it out,
Rev. Sheila P. Spencer
Rev. Sheila P. Spencer is an author, poet, teacher and preacher. You can contact her at CustomMadeInspiration@gmail.com and her website is www.sheilapspencer.com.
