Today I am writing on one the most treasure tools of my Christian walk, prayer. Most of us have experienced times of prayer either in the home or church. I remember prayers taught to me in childhood. I was taught to say my prayers regularly at bed time. As a child I was taught "Now I lay me down to sleep..." and the Lord's Prayer. I do not remember learning them; I just remember always knowing them. As I think of the ways I learned to pray, the most important teacher was the experience. My family did not have times of prayer together except at daily meals when grace was offered by my father. On Sundays when I went to church, I remember hearing long and boring prayers from the minister. As I recall, on no occasion was I taught about silent prayer, meditating, or the fact that I could have an individual relationship with God.
Being a new Christian I found it a challenge to pray on a consistent basis. The first step in developing a life of prayer, was realizing that prayer was communicating with God.
As I prayed There were times when sickness in the home or with close relatives caused me to prayer without ceasing. I didn’t realize at that time, that I was becoming an intercessor. Many times as a young Christian I served as my pastor’s driver and daily companion while rearing my children. There were times when she would be called upon to pray for the sick, at the church or at the hospital. This is where I learned the power of prayer. I can recall during times of pain, agony or despair when a prayer was pulled out of me with surprising strength. I was taught to read the word, pray the word so that it became a part of my daily prayer time. I began to learn how to apply scripture with pray as we prayed for the sick. God was setting me up for something good, in that once the infirmary of sickness hit my body, I had the secret. It was the power of prayer that