I drove by a church near my house once and they had set up Drive Thru Prayer in their parking lot and people were lined up to pull in. I realized how glad I was that they hadn't asked me first if they should do it. I would have laughed. I didn't know God then. I didn't get it. I thought it was nice when people said they would pray for me but I didn't get what the big deal was. I didn't understand in any real way what prayer meant. If you asked me now, I would sign up to pray in that parking lot in them, and in a way I almost am.
Every day, I pray with strangers. Every day I pray with struggling single parents in Minnesota and Hawaii, I pray with flood victims in island nations, I pray with single teens waiting for their "Happily Ever After", I pray with young men that reach out when they are sure the only answer is to end their life. Every day, I pray with Instapray.
Prayer is the devotion of your spirit to another person's life and well being, if only for a moment. Prayer can lift us up and change our lives. Prayer can move mountains. So, why wouldn't we pray for one another? Regardless of race, reputation, education, or socio-economic standings there are so many people waiting and willing and loving the prospect of praying for you.
Remember your first "friend" on Myspace? You remember him, you remember him looking back over his shoulder at you from his keyboard, smiling in his white t-shirt, you remember Tom. Well, Instapray has one of those too, but you don't have wonder whether or not he exists, Fryd is the very approachable and devoted creator of Instapray. When my grandmother passed just before Christmas he posted a prayer for her and for my family, the result was thousands of prayers from around the globe. I got messages from Indonesia, Australia, and Alabama, all saying they just wanted me to know that they were praying for us still, this was 3 weeks later. I've never met Fryd, but I can say he is a real friend now.
Jesus came to teach us our most important commandment and that was love.
Instapray embodies that, and for that I am forever grateful. It's so easy to convince yourself that it is justified to walk around like you are the only one who matters because it's easy to feel like maybe you are the only one who cares. As Christians, we know this isn't true, but the world is a tricky place, filled with ruts to get stuck in and jagged cliffs to get to close to, and since we're people too it can even happen to us.
Walking around with Bible in hand believing no one really loves us reminds me of being a kid wearing the clothes your parents paid for and continue to launder for you as you walk through the lunch room with the bag they woke up early to pack you but for some reason you think "I have no one in this world" and it may be a quick thought but for some people those thoughts can linger long enough to have just about the most popular, adored person in the world convinced that it's all pointless. Sometimes, we need a reminder of what our creator promised us and reminds us of every day, which is where fellowship comes in. That person in India saying "Hey, don't give up." or the prayer from Nigeria thanking the Lord for all He's done. Those things change our heart. They shape how we treat everyone. In this world of global communication this is somewhere where it's being used right. Somewhere safe to say "I don't know if I can do this" because 56 people you've never met are going to make sure you have the divine help that assures you that you do.