Power Of Prayer

Marjorie Munro, as she was known as I grew up, was a loving, energetic, cheerful woman.  When Christ came into her life, all those qualities became even more pronounced!  She worked with Girl Scouts for many. many years, loving literally hundreds of young girls.  Many of them came to know the Lord through her influence and example.  She worked in her home church as choir director, member, Sunday School teacher, Vacation Bible School director, as well as Bible study leader for several different groups.  She had a wonderful skill in organizing activities and groups, and all the while, instilling an atmosphere of love and fun.  No one who knew her could say they never heard her laugh!  She loved to laugh and to sing, and I'm sure, that she's in heaven singing to heart's content  She no longer is troubled with heart pain, or shortness of breath, or fatigue.

She became widowed at the age of 51, and even that never slowed her steps in following Jesus.  She continued to serve in all the capacities she always had, just modifying her activities and time to fit her physical abilities.  She remarried a few years later, and became Marjorie MacPherson.  New people and places entered her life...and many new experiences.  She began to do the traveling she'd always dreamed of, and all along the way, made many friends, again, influencing them for Christ.  Her life was a model of Christ, so those who came to know her always were blessed.

The last few years of her life were wracked with pain and fatigue, as her heart condition grew worse and worse.  She had several surgeries, and though none were without complications, she continued to praise her God.  The nurses and doctors that cared for her were without exception amazed, and marveled at her faith - and by her unexplained recovery!  When she had open heart surgery for a quadruple bypass, she experienced so many complications, we were told she probably had a massive stroke, and would be affected by it if she survived.  Praise God, she left that hospital with no affects of that massive stroke.  God was the only answer her physicians could give.  Needless to say,  she was not forgotten there, nor was her God.

When she became too ill to live at home, and I was unable to care for her, she was marvelously cared for by friends and other family members.  It broke my heart that I, a nurse, was not physically able to care for my own mother.  We had been so close throughout all of our lives, that it didn't seem fair that I couldn't be the one to help her through this "experience."   But that was not part of God's plan.  Although I know it hurt her, too, she never complained that I couldn't help anymore than I did.  I didn't understand at the time that the work I was doing for her was part of the same work she had done for me for years.  It was unseen work, yet as important as all the visible work others did.  God, in His miraculous way, had prepared the way for her.  When she went into the nursing home, knowing she probably would die there, she was not among strangers.  Most of  the staff there had been influenced by her at some time in their lives.  Nurses were women she'd taught as Girl Scouts, or Sunday School children.  Secretaries and orderlies had the same story.  If they hadn't known her as children they had worked with her or been taught by her as adults.  I was amazed, yet not surprised.

It wasn't until months after her death, that I saw God's hand in that.  These people, too, were given an opportunity to give back to her the love she had shown them.  And because she was in the nursing home, many people were able to visit her that could not at her home.  She even knew many of the other residents there, because of the time she spent visiting them.   Her brothers and their wives were able to spend this time with her, as was my brother and his wife.  She was surrounded by love.....and I, in my selfishness, was heartbroken that I wasn't with them all the time.

My job, though, was to be in my home praying for her.  God had me in a physical condition that kept me inactive......what else could I do?  And why did I not realize how valuable that time was? The world blinds us to the importance of prayer...because it is not a visible act.   So, I prayed for her constantly; for God to keep her safe and loved and unafraid.  I also prayed that those around her would continue to be blessed by her.  I didn't pray this because I knew to do it - the Holy Spirit led me there.  As I was praying one day,  I suddenly felt her presence leave .  I had an instant of deep sorrow I've never felt before, and then immediately, the sound of thousand of voices singing "How Great Thou Art,"   her favorite song.  When my brother called shortly after that to tell me she had passed away,  I had cried my tears and was rejoicing for her.

I now understand the importance of the prayer time I had for her.   I realize she did much the same for me throughout my life - just as I do for my children.  Intercessory prayer is not an idle task.  It requires energy and commitment.  I am committed to passing on to as many people as I can what God teaches me in this area.