Praying for the Right Words

It was my day to volunteer for the monthly church service at the county nursing home. I played hymns on the piano, listened to a short sermon and then walked among the wheelchairs asking the residents for prayer requests.

I leaned over the arm of the wheelchair to speak with Sally, a younger resident, only in her forties. She had been stricken with multiple sclerosis years earlier, and her fiancé, upon hearing the diagnosis, had abandoned her. “How can I pray for you?” I asked.

“I want to walk again,” Sally said. I felt doubt rising within me. How could I pray for Sally to walk when she had been crippled for years and her chances of ever walking again were virtually nil?

Inwardly, I asked God for the right words as I placed my arm around Sally’s shoulders. “Lord, please encourage Sally. Give her patience and confidence that one day she will walk, if not on this earth, then surely in heaven.” I hugged Sally and although she could not return my hug, she smiled and nodded.