Listen and Pray

One night, as I checked on my sleeping preschooler before going to bed, out of nowhere – a vision of her almost being hit by a car popped into my mind. I was scared to death. It felt so real. I started praying immediately, begging God to protect her and save her life. I covered her in prayer, from head to toe. My prayers went on for nearly a half hour until I felt at peace and was able to go to sleep. Have you ever had a similar experience? How did you react?

This situation reminded me of Romans 8:26 “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. We don’t know what God wants us to pray for, but the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.” It was as if I didn’t know what needed to be covered in prayer, but the Holy Spirit did, and He brought me to my knees to pray in that instant.

The next morning, my little one and I started our daily routine by going to the YMCA. As usual, I pulled into the lot, parked the van and started gathering my purse and gym bag. But this time, instead of waiting for me to open the van door and get her out, my daughter quietly undid the buckle, hit the button to automatically open the door, and ran towards the street! It happened so fast. She had never done that before. I yelled “stop” and tried to reach her with my hands, but she was just beyond my reach. There was a van coming that slammed on the brakes as my daughter froze in front of the approaching vehicle.

By the grace of God’s protection, the van stopped in time. My heart was racing. I picked her up and held her tight as I thanked God and started sobbing. The driver got out of the vehicle to make sure my daughter was ok. I thanked her for being alert and stopping in time. You will not believe who the driver was – it was someone I had served with 20 years ago, on a Teens Encounter Christ retreat. Only God could orchestrate that!

My daughter and I were both shaken and learned a valuable lesson that day – she learned to wait for me and pay attention, and I learned to heed the Holy Spirit and pray, immediately when prompted.

We had one errand to run on the way home. This time, my daughter walked close by my side, and we held hands tightly. Good thing we did! As we approached the crosswalk, I paused us because I didn’t trust the oncoming car who seemed to be going too fast. Sure enough, the driver blew through the stop sign at the crosswalk. Another near miss! God was so good to us that day and I truly believe the Holy Spirit led me to pray because of what was to come the next day. God heard those prayers and answered, keeping my daughter safe.

So today, I encourage each of you to listen to the Holy Spirit that God has placed inside of you as a believer. Take everything to the Lord in prayer. From the smallest detail of your life – to a pressing issue…God wants to take care of you. He desires a relationship with you, and He has blessed you with the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide you.

Here are some additional verses to reflect on:

Acts 2:38 – Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 13:52 – And the believers were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

1 John 2:27 – But you have received the Holy Spirit, and He lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what He teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as He has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.

2 Corinthians 13:14 – May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.