Do you have a friend who will pray for you about anything, at any time, night or day?
“Ping, ping” goes my wife Carol’s cell phone. A text message. She picks up the phone and reads, then types a message back.
“Who was that?” I ask.
“Roberta,” she says, naming a friend from choir at church.
“Ping, ping” goes the cell phone again.
“Roberta again?” I ask.
“Yes.”
“Asking about choir rehearsal?”
“Nope. Just wanted to let me know about something going on in her life.”
Carol gets these messages from Roberta at the oddest times: 6:30 in the morning, in the middle of a vacation, during work, just before she goes to bed. At first I thought it was because Roberta wanted Carol’s input on something. But she doesn’t get Carol on the phone. It’s just a quick text message.
Finally it dawned on me. “Was Roberta asking you for prayers?”
“Yes,” Carol said.
“You don’t mind the interruption?”
“Not at all. I’m glad I can help.”
“Ping” another message will come in another day. Most of what they say remains a mystery to me. But one friend praying for another doesn’t seem a mystery at all. They keep in touch with each other while they keep in touch with God.
