When Two or Three Gather...Even on the Telephone.

Sometimes, when God reminds me how much He wants to hear from me,

He is so incredible:

it's almost hard to believe He would answer in such a way.

Often, it is easy for me to forget the power of prayer.

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The first time I was asked on the phone if I had a prayer request I wanted to have prayed over,

it seemed awkward and strange.

It isn't that I don't pray.  I have prayed with my friends before, my family, my kids,

but when somebody you don't know asks on the phone if you want to pray about something,

it just kind of feels...

different.

I remember I had a friend in college who would sit on the phone with her head bowed

and when I asked her one time what she was doing,

she explained to me that whenever she called home, her dad always prayed with her.

I thought that was pretty neat.

When my husband was hired by his job,

there was no health insurance included for us,

so we had to find something.

Health insurance shopping can be daunting.

I had a friend who told me about a sharing program she was in:

Christians came together under an agreement to give a certain amount of money each month

toward the needs of each other.  There was different sharing programs depending on how much help you wanted toward the deductible, etc.  Those involved were of the same faith

and because of this, certain life behaviors were expected of each other,

cutting out a lot of the problems like smoking, drinking, and living promiscuously can bring with them.

I joined this health sharing program and have used it for several years now.

 

There is a place for prayer requests on their website;

they realize and prioritize the power of prayer.

I found that whenever I called about a question or something,

the worker on the other end of the line always ended the phone call asking if I had any specific prayer requests and if I would have time for a prayer.

I had a call to make today about a blood test I took for a healthy incentive program they offer.

At the end of the call, the question came.

 Last time, she prayed for my day home-schooling.

I can always use prayer for that.

Today was a day of going to the dentist.

We had put off one of the kid's six month check-up,

and now they had scheduled both the kids for the same time,

so as to save on gas and get two done with no extra waiting time.

I had called about what it was going to cost and warned my husband.

We go to a dentist who uses the safest methods of dentistry,

digital x-rays, white fillings, and he is very good with the kids,

does excellent, quick work.  I really feel confident in him.

Considering all this, his prices are good, but dentists aren't a gallon of milk and a dozen of eggs these days.  Having two go in at once was twice the pill to swallow.

"Can you pray for our dentist trip today?

My kids don't always have the best results from cleanings: it seems there is always something that needs to be fixed.  It can be hard to take sometimes."

The lady on the other end agreed and her prayer asked that God would be with our dental trip,

that he would give us a good day and cause our visit to be one that wouldn't be hard,

that the financial consequences would be minimal.

It was a specific prayer, and I again had that feeling,

almost a cringing inside,

"Should I really be bothering God about teeth?"

I always have this bad habit of thinking He must be so busy with things that are 

really important.

The kids disappeared into adjacent rooms

and I pulled out a sketchbook to work on a few things on my mind.

Lillie drew and then watched part of a movie.

When the kids emerged with their new toothbrushes and flossers,

I got up and went around to pay the bill.

"No cavities today.

Everything looks great.

No charge today, either." 

she said with a smile.

"Wait a minute.

What was that?"

I thought I had heard wrong.

"No charge.  Your sister-in-law came in with you for a reference,

and her family.  We have a $50 credit policy for each person you refer.

In fact, you have credit toward your next visit."

I had no idea.

I did not know my sister-in-law was going to start going to our dentist

or that she had.  My mother-in-law must have told her about our dentist and given us the referral.  How generous!  What a sweet surprise!

I thought of how we needed to thank my Farmer's sister,

his mom,

but more importantly,

I instantly thought of that prayer.

She smiled, like the news was as fun for her to give me as the look on my face must have been.

As we drove toward home that afternoon,

I told Violet about the answered prayer.

"Perhaps we should call her up next time we need something else to be prayed for,"

Violet smiled, and I knew she knew as I did that the answer to the prayer was a gift from God.

Then we both had the same thought,

"Let me call Daddy," she said.

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

Matthew 18:20

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