Prayer Triggers

Even when my children are not here at home, I still close their blinds at night.
There is something about the routine of that simple act that comforts me.
It allows me to walk into their rooms and think of them.
It allows me to pray for them at that very moment.

Closing their blinds is a prayer trigger.
We need those in our day.
We all have our concentrated times of prayer.
Maybe we talk to God on our walk, or in the car, or at the beach when we feel so small.

Prayer triggers are so important.
They are little serendipitous reminders to lift someone before the Lord.
It can be a song or a smell.
It can be a favorite flower or a certain place.

Whatever the trigger, be thankful for it.
Whatever the trigger, it is prompting you for a reason.
It is God’s little nudge.
It is a nudge of grace.

We go about our day so unaware.
We need to think back to when we were a child and liked the connect-the-dots page.
There was something so satisfying about completing the picture.
A random series of dots suddenly became something recognizable.

Think of prayer triggers as the dots on a coloring page.
Separate and randomly placed, they mean very little.
However when connected, a picture is plain to see.
The picture was there all the time but it was disjointed and hidden.

One simple stroke of a pencil or crayon and you are on your way.
Sometimes, it is quite obvious what the picture will become.
Other times it is not clear until the last line is connected.
In coloring pages or in life, connections must be made in order to have clarity.

I had such a prayer trigger this morning.
I was in the room that my boys had shared and I was opening their blinds.
I have done this hundreds of time before.
Today the morning light was coming directly through the front windows.

Something below my line of vision caught my eye.
I looked down at the windowsill.
There, carved ever so carefully in the soft, pine wood, were the names of my boys.
Each name was in their handwriting.

When had this been done?
How old were they when they carved it?
What prompted them to stake their claim on the wooden windowsill?
Why were both names on one windowsill leaving the other one blank?

I was asking questions that need not be answered now.
A carving caught my eye as the morning light illuminated it.
This was something they may have been corrected for had I known about it at the time.
This was something that God used as a trigger for prayer.

God’s Word immediately came to mind.

Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. (Isaiah 49:15,16)

I began to pray.

Father, hold my boys today. May they both walk with You strongly. Thank You, that as I see their names carved into this windowsill, I know that You have engraved their names on the palms of Your hands. They are Yours. Thank you for each of these fine young men. Use them for Your glory. In Jesus’ name.

I left the room.
The morning light was shining through the open blinds.
I glanced back and saw the outline of their names on the wood.
I smiled.

I went across the hall into my youngest daughter’s room.
The room that is much too quiet since she is at college.
I opened her blinds as well and looked down at her windowsill.
Tucked in the corner, I saw her name carved along with the initial of her last name.

Why had I never seen this before?
This was done in her handwriting as well.
Did the three of them do this on the same day?
It was so like her to add the initial of her last name giving the carving some finesse.

I found myself laughing at what was done all those years ago.
I had never known.
I found it when she was not here in the room with me but close to me in prayer.
Another prayer trigger as I lifted her before the Father.

Father, hold this precious girl today. Help her as she trains for her resident assistant position. Allow her to be a blessing to the forty girls in her care that will be arriving next week. Give her moments of stillness that she can hear Your voice. Protect her as she is away from home. In Jesus’ name.

I left her room and went down the hall to the room that my older girls used to share.
I opened their blinds and looked down at the windowsill.
No carving there.
Instead there were sweet memories.

Memories of the doll house that used to be in the corner.
Memories of the wicker baskets that held their stuffed animals.
Memories of the lacrosse stick that used to be behind my oldest daughter’s bed.
Memories of sitting on their bed and singing to them before they went off to sleep.

Father, these girls are Your women. They love You. You have gifted them and they are serving You with their lives. Father, continue to work Your will in their lives. May they hear Your voice clearly as Your guide them. May they be walking closely with You today. In Jesus’ name.

Prayer triggers for my children before I even got downstairs.
Names carved in wood.
Memories that seemed to linger in the air.
The God of yesterday, today, and forever allowed me to see and prompted me to pray.

Prayer triggers are a gift.
Don’t dismiss the nudge to pray.
Anything can be a prayer trigger.
They are seemingly insignificant yet so very meaningful.

Be joyful always. Pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Praying continually always seemed like an impossible task.
However, we fail to discern the meaning.
Praying continually does not mean that we must be on our knees all day, every day.
Continual prayer is possible when you become aware of prayer triggers.

Look for them.
Appreciate them.
Thank God for them.
Don’t miss them.

Prayer triggers are all around you.
Do you see them?
They are God’s little nudge.
They are a nudge of His grace.

 

2 responses to “Prayer Triggers”

1. Gina, I know just what you mean. When I look at pictures of my family, some living and some with the Lord, I think of them and thank God for them. If there are problems, I pray for these too; some are ongoing, some have become praises. I thank God for my family and friends at various times every day, and I know God hears me every time.

   Reply

   • Sue,
     So many things can be a prayer trigger. What a blessing for those special things that makes us stop and pray.
     Gina

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