Pray For Me

‘In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. 37About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. 38Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”

39Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

40Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. 41He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. 42This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.’
Acts 9:36-42

Today is the first night I’m not sleeping with my baby beside me. For any first-time mom, this is terrifying. For me, it’s doubly terrifying because it was against my wishes. I got a call today that my body is rejecting my kidney and I needed to be admitted to the hospital for treatment to save my kidney. After this past week, this news was another devastating and unexpected blow.

Last Tuesday, I went to get my labs done like I normally do, with the exception here being that I would be seeing a new doctor on Friday. I knew I wasn’t feeling well, so I expected to hear that my numbers were slightly off. Then a couple of hours later, I got a call that has proved to be life-changing. I was told that I needed to go to the emergency room immediately, that my creatinine was a 9 and that my potassium was a 7. After that, I broke every personal rule I have. I cried at work in front of my co-workers. I cried calling my mom and best friends. I was so upset I had my office director walk me to my car. Hearing my kidney may be failing sent me into shock and all I could think of was my son. I had been telling God that I wanted to be here to see my baby grow old. I felt like I was being robbed.

Since last Tuesday, I was in the hospital for two days at the wrong hospital, I had a blood transfusion, and yesterday I had a kidney biopsy. And every day, my little love slept beside his momma. On the second day, I knew I needed to get him back to his routine so I prayed that I would be able to go home. After getting some much-needed fluids, I was feeling better than I had felt the past three weeks. In that experience, I realized God was teaching me to be vulnerable by trusting Him. I don’t often ask for prayer. I’m actually always asking others how I can pray for them. I went beyond my prayer partner and standard few others to my extended "family" for prayer. Honestly, I noticed from the time I was being admitted to the hospital and well really before, that people were praying for me. In my tears and hysteria on the phone, people were praying for me. While the nurse was inserting my IV, she was praying for me.

I couldn’t shake that all of this meant something and needed to be shared. I personally needed the reminder that I’m not alone and not going through life alone. Even now when I don’t know how long this will last or what to expect, I do know that people are praying for me. I do know that prayer and faith got me through my transplant 9 years ago. And now having my miracle boy, I have so much to live for. So as I prayed, all of these things pointed me to intercession.

For a long time, I approached intercession from the perspective that I was taking my hands off my issues and focusing on others so that God could take care of my issues. I do not think this is a bad way to teach about intercession, but I think once you mature in faith, intercession should become an indication of love and relationship with others. And in asking others to intercede for you, it indicates your faith and trust in God and also demonstrates that sharing of burdens the Bible mentions. The truth is, from what I have gathered, intercession is a believer’s responsibility. As I was reading, it seemed that in virtually every letter, Paul mentioned to that church to pray for him and the other leaders. It wasn’t something that he hesitated to mention.

This makes me think of my own apprehension in asking for and receiving help. While I know what my issues with this was rooted in, I am now repentant because I have not allowed God manifest His love in this area of my life. I have had valid reasons for not asking everyone for prayer in the past. I realized earlier this year in listening to Boundaries that I had a problem with sharing my burdens with others and sometimes took on the cross of others. I recognize now, in writing this, that this is how I will learn this. So if you got this far, please pray for me. I wasn’t created to carry this by myself and I need to be here for my baby. I have to finish everything God created me to do. So please pray for my healing and recovery throughout this process.

‘It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 2He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 4After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.

5So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

6The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.

8Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision.10They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

11Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”

12When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”

15“You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”

16But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.’Acts 12:1-17