Prayers of Encouragement

My first visit to a child development center was to accompany visitors from Korea. How could I forget that winter morning?

A girl leaning in the doorway of her small shack was eager to meet visitors who came to her house from so far away, visitors of a different nationality who did not speak her language. I cannot forget her little eyes filled with brightness and joy, eyes as beautiful as those drawings she made with a few crayons kept in a small box.

That morning I witnessed the most powerful prayers. They were prayers of encouragement and requests to God on behalf of that family in need, offered up by the Korean visitors.

These visitors didn’t know the family. They were meeting each other for the first time, in fact, but a supernatural love seized that place. The visitors were able to hear the family’s needs, and even though they did not speak the same language, we all felt that God made it as if they did.

That prayer of supplication for that family in need transformed the gray morning into a day of hope. I saw the faces of this family change after the prayer. At that moment, they hadn’t received anything material, but the prayer brightened their day and brought them hope that the Almighty had not forgotten them.

The little girl sent us off with a face full of joy and confidence. She said she was happy that we got to know her family. She felt important and valued, but above all, she was filled with the hope that God would bring new blessings to her home.

Then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. —1 Kings 8:45, NIV

Prayer: Lord, awaken in us a deep desire for prayer and supplication for those who suffer, who are in need, the destitute, and for those who are homeless. Spark within our hearts a fervent desire to defend the cause of the needy. Thank You for hearing our prayers for them.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Marlen Vilcamango works as the Country Director Assistant for Compassion Peru.

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