Across from me a guy is having an interview. I can’t help but eavesdrop.It’s been a while, but it seems to be going well. I feel inclined to mutter a quick prayer for him. For confidence, favor, provision.It makes me think of small prayers, and if such a thing truly exists. The idea of appealing to the Father –Master and Creator of the Universe, the one who summons the earth–on behalf of another is significant to me. A bit like going to the Supreme Court–the Highest Law of the Land–on behalf of a person or situation you’re not that well acquainted with.That’s agape. In many letters Paul reminds the churches that he’s praying for them. He asks for their prayers too.
“I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” –Ephesians 1:16
His mentee Timothy, follows suit.
“First of all, then,I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people.” -1 Timothy 2:1
“I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day”–2 Tim 1:3
My small, quick prayer in between sips of lukewarm Hazelnut coffee might be astronomical in his universe. I wonder what this job, if acquired, would mean for him. Is he nonchalant? Or has he been sweating over this 8 AM appointment? A family depending on him? Or just looking for extra cash to fund a new drum set, a mission trip? I don’t know if that prayer instantly calms his nerves,wiping out an assault of negative thoughts from the Enemy. Or if I’m simply in agreement about a position he’s been fasting and praying for. Still, I love the idea that God can have us in a seemingly insignificant place and prompt a prayer, that I admit I’m too apt to regard in the same manner as well wishes. Good Luck. Fingers crossed! Thinking about you! As if those sentences evaporate into the air ducts, void of power. As if they don’t reach the throne of the Most High. I’m beginning to wonder if this prayer was for me. It has definitely created awareness, and a desire to not discount any prayer–short, tall, long, or small–as less potent. I anticipate seeing the “small” ones– the hushed, muttered, last-minute prayers on the highlight reel of my life. What they accomplished. What they prevented. How, no matter what I thought or how I felt at the time, they weren’t in vain.