[Faith-talk] Prayer in public: a blessing instead of a bother

[Christine Olivares via Faith-talk]

Hello everyone,
I thought I would share an experience that happened to me yesterday. I had to have eye surgery since I have congenital glaucoma in both eyes. My pressure was too high in the left eye, so a new procedure was done to try to lower it. I am no stranger to surgery in the least.

Since this was an outpatient procedure, my family and I went out to lunch. While I was in the bathroom washing my hands, my mom was talking to a very nice lady. This lady saw the patch on my eye and asked what happened. My mom and I told her, and she asked if I would mind if she prayed for me. I was so overjoyed because I have never had someone offer to do that in public before. I really needed that encouragement because this surgery was my 22nd surgery, so imagine the frustration! something happened while I was prayed for. She placed her hand on my shoulder and prayed for a few minutes. after she was finished, I offered to pray for her. At first, she didn’t know what to say because I get the impression she goes around praying for others but doesn’t get prayed for herself.  She was so happy that she was also thought of as well. After we prayed for each other, we both felt amazing.

This experience really made me think about myself. I realize I focus on myself too much always wanting people to pray for me and such. I have always loved praying for people but was never bold enough to do it in public with the laying-on-of-hands. I realized God is calling me to do this for those who wish it. The way she asked me and talked to me was so refreshing. There was no pity there; she was just being compassionate and that’s the important thing. When we offer to pray over others, we never do it out of pity, and we always ask the person what we can pray for. That way, if that person doesn’t want physical healing, we know exactly what he/she wants. I encourage people to be a blessing to others by either praying with them or going out of your way to be kind. I know how much I was blessed yesterday, so be a blessing to others because you will be blessed as well!

god bless,
Christine