Prayer and the Holy Spirit

Sometimes I’m woken up from a great sleep by a scared toddler or a hungry infant. Sometimes I’m woken up by a husband who takes up most of the bed. Sometimes I’m woken up to use the bathroom. But there have also been numerous times I’ve woken up for seemingly no reason, but with a very strong prompting to pray: sometimes for things I’m not sure of, but other times for something or someone very specific.

In the very early hours of April 1, 2018, I woke up from a deep sleep with a nagging feeling to pray for my sister-in-law and her unborn baby boy. I didn’t know why, as she had been having a healthy pregnancy and was almost to term. But I felt the Holy Spirit gently telling me, “Pray for Jessica and the baby.” So I did.

I didn’t know what I needed to say to God, but I knew that I wouldn’t have been woken up to pray if it wasn’t necessary. So I started praying: for their safety, for any doctor and nurse that would be involved in her eventual labor and delivery, for her strength, for the Holy Spirit to guide the prayer, and fill in any gaps that I may have missed.

The book of Romans tells us that the Holy Spirit will intercede for us when we don’t know what God wants us to pray for.

“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:26-27‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I told God that I didn’t know why I needed to pray for them, but I asked him to wrap them in his protection and love, to keep the baby and my SIL safe, to protect them. I prayed it over and over. I asked the Holy Spirit to intercede through me, “You know what they need where I do not. Please.” I prayed until I fell back asleep.

The next morning, I received a picture of a brand new baby boy. My nephew had been born while I was praying. My sister-in-law had been laboring and was having a difficult labor. The baby had been in distress. I fell asleep after the baby had been safely born.

I am confident that the Lord woke me from my sleep to pray protection over them.

While I know that this topic is not something everyone can relate with, I encourage those of you reading who are Christ followers (and even if you aren’t!), when you hear that still small voice prompting you to pray, or when someone you haven’t thought much about pops into your brain and into your heart, pray.

It isn’t by accident that they are placed on your heart. Allow the Holy Spirit to work through you. You may never know the outcome of your prayer as I did in this instance. But I guarantee that your prayer will make a difference in his or her life.