Wouldn’t it be nice if “regular business hours” coincided with your routine? I usually wake up very early, usually between 3:00 AM and 6:00 AM. There is so much I could get done, but the rest of the world, at least my little part of it, is fast asleep. No one else in my home is awake and so that only leaves me one person to talk to, God. God doesn’t have set times that we can talk to Him, thank Him, cry out to Him or praise Him. He is available 24/7, all year and for all times. From the beginning to the end, He is available to all of us.

This morning was no different. I had woken up a little before 6:00 AM and went straight outside to pray. I like praying outside, somehow I feel closer to God. As I sat there just talking to God about the changes He is making in me and thanking Him for peace, others started “popping” into my head. I prayed for them. Prayed for friends with unborn children, friends that are longing for children, prayed for a friend’s sick grandmother and then Tonya was on my heart.

I have known Tonya since elementary school. She is an amazing woman of character, compassion, commitment, loves her family fiercely and loves the Lord even more. When God puts someone on your heart, when someone “pops” into your mind; pray for them. That is what I did. I simply prayed for Tonya. I didn’t know if anything specific was going on, I simply asked God to bless her and let her know that He was with her. When I walked inside, I noticed my phone blinking. Thinking another of my early-riser friends had text me our usual 6:00 AM text, I checked my phone.

My friend Tonya, also an early riser, had sent me a private message asking for prayer for a stiff neck that was causing her great pain. How good is God?! This is what she wrote, “Will you please pray in agreement with me for God to heal my stiff neck. I woke up with stiff neck and muscle spasms. Need for muscles to relax so I can move without pain. Thank you, my friend.” 

I am always amazed when God does things like this. Tonya and I live over 1200 miles apart and yet, thanks to technology, this morning we prayed together. Matthew 18:19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven”.  As I prayed, I raised my hand to heaven and imagined massaging my friend’s neck as I asked that every nerve, muscle, tendon and vertebrae line up as God designed them to. 

That first message came in at 7:08 AM. By 7:23 AM Tonya shared that the pain was subsiding, her neck was cracking and popping. In 15 minutes, she was feeling relief. That is the power of prayer. That is a small picture of the awesomeness of our God. Tonya also wrote, “I am trusting in Him for all things. Going to get out of this bed and move in faith.” After asking, we must believe that God heard us, God cared about our prayer and that He has it. We have to leave it at God’s feet. Are we allowed to ask the same thing again? Absolutely!! Think of how often your children ask you the same thing over and over and over. Has their asking ever changed your mind? I know my children have changed my mind and heart, just as Moses changed the mind of God in Exodus 32:14.

Last night our Pastor shared with us about praying. For weeks he has shared this simple prayer with us: “Father, You are good. I need help–heal me and forgive me. They need help. Thank You. In Jesus name, amen.”. Simple and yet so powerful. We talked about Matthew 7:7-11. Ask, Knock, Seek! He shared with us about the shameless audacity we should have when praying. Nothing is too big or too small for God. He cares about what we care about. How often do we limit God because we do not ask for the great, audacious prayer requests?

Maybe we don’t ask out of fear. Fear that God will laugh at our desires. Fear that God will find us undeserving of such a blessing. Maybe we don’t ask because that isn’t how we were taught to pray. We only know the formality of prayer. What if God does answer my prayer? Then what?

It blessed me that Tonya trusted me to pray for her. She wasn’t ashamed to ask me for help. She didn’t beat around the bush, she came right out and asked for what she needed and desired. She trusted me.  That is exactly how we need to come to God; unashamed, to the point, and with total trust. How much more trusted and honored must God feel when His children come to Him asking for help, for blessing, for love, for forgiveness, for the desires of their hearts?

There is no wrong time to ask a friend to pray for you. There is no request that is too small. Praying is never wasting your time, a friend’s time or God’s time. There is no request too big. Pray big! There is no wrong time to call God. He won’t put you on hold. He won’t allow you to get disconnected. Only you can disconnect yourself from God. He won’t tell you that all the lines to Him are busy and you must call back later. He is waiting. Waiting for you to talk to Him. Ask Him! Trust Him! Thank Him! Praise Him!