One, Two, Three ... Gone!

Each Friday I edit the prayer requests from our missionaries and place the summaries on our church prayer chain.  It is interesting that some of the missionaries, often the older ones, start with the phrase "Dear Prayer Warriors".  And while that might be an old phrase, it is right on.  We are in a spiritual battle and we need to be warriors in this battle, warriors in prayer.  Prayer is not easy but it is critical.  And there are very few believers who are really prayer warriors.  It is so easy to say "I'm praying for you" and then forget to do it regularly. Or it is so easy to just pray in general - "Bless the missionaries" - rather than pray with specifics.  Fortunate is the person who has a prayer warrior praying for him each day.  I have been very fortunate to have three in my life.  My grandfather, N. H. Wolf, prayed for me daily.  He would welcome our requests and daily He took them to the Lord for us.  For almost 25 years we traveled on Sunday mornings to churches as part of our family ministry.  Only once did we get lost on our early morning travels and that one time was the Sunday after Grandpa was taken home.  We suddenly realized that he wasn't praying for us that morning.  Prayer makes a difference.  My second prayer warrior was my father-in-law, Glenn Bickle.  Every morning he started the day with the Lord and he always prayed specifically for our requests.  When he became ill in December he apologized that he couldn't always pray as he had done before.  We miss his prayers.  Then there was my dad, my third prayer warrior.  Daily dad prayed for me, throughout my life.  A favorite time for him was at night when he would get awake and couldn't sleep.  Dad is now home with the Lord.  All three are gone.  Now I feel very vulnerable since I don't know if there are any prayer warriors really intercessing for me. It is a difficult and troubling feeling.  I was very fortunate.  Who will pick up the slack?  Yesterday I promised to pick up the loss for my extended family. They, too, will miss dad's daily prayers and they need prayer coverage.  The battle is raging and warriors are needed.  We all need prayer warriors, not pretenders who make glib promises that they can't or don't keep.  Will you stand in the gap?