When you work with people for any length of time, you develop a friendship with them.  Some “friendships” are really just niceties exchanged in the office environment, while others go much deeper than that.  In my office, I have formed a rather unique friendship with a warrior.  He is a warrior on so many different levels but two that stand out are 1)  he is a warrior for Christ and 2) he is a prayer warrior.  At any given time, he will break out into prayer.  The usual “let’s bow our heads” goes out the window here with him.  One minute you could be in deep conversation, and the very next he is staring straight ahead speaking with such conviction and authority.  “Father, I ask it to be …” and he goes into bold specifics, and he follows it up with “Thank you for the hope of it.”

Today, as we sat in the morning meeting going through our client list for updates, the meeting came to a screeching halt as he asked specifically for prayer right that minute.  He began to share with us a little of what he encountered Tuesday night when he came upon a motorcycle accident within minutes of it happening.  I knew something was off with him yesterday but had no idea what was truly the reason behind how he carried himself and with what little words he spoke that day.  Feeling stuck between wanting to offer an ear and not wanting to pry, I chose to play it safe and let him be.  When people are ready to talk or feel a need to do so, they will, so I felt it better to leave things alone Wednesday.  Today, he shared some of his heart.  Immediately, we went right into praying over him.  Our boss lead the prayer, and when it was my turn to speak I found myself overcome with emotion.  When your friend is hurting, you are affected by it as well because of how deeply you care about them!

I have known for quite some time that we connected on a deeper level.  We were more than just “office friends.”  We have talked in detail about the Bible, God, religion in general, and our beliefs.  It is mainly him sharing because I am not as knowledgeable with all of the stories in the Bible as he is, so I am like a little sponge soaking it all up when he shares.

The realization that hit me of my friend hurting swept over me, and immediately I teared up when I started to put my thoughts into a prayer for him.  I have not been all that comfortable praying out loud for people, and so this is taking me out of my comfort zone for sure.  But I offer my humble prayers, even if I don’t speak as eloquently as others do.  I know God still hears me no matter what or how I pray.  I was moved to tears for this man and wanted so badly to help his heart with the images that have been tormenting him since he arrived at the scene of the accident.

Would you please offer prayers for my friend, too?  He leans on the fruit of the spirit in all things, and he mentioned this several times when we spoke briefly after the meeting.  He is a true believer and a great witness for the Lord.   While we cannot remove this night from his memory bank or erase the images he saw, we can trust our Father to help him through this.  He has been thinking of the man that was on the motorcycle, but he has also been thinking of the driver of the vehicle that cut in front of the motorcycle, in what appeared to have caused the accident. We don’t know the individuals personally, and it is troubling to think that the man might have left this world not knowing Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.  On the other hand, maybe he was saved and had a personal relationship with Jesus.  We hope that is the case and that he did not suffer.  With the driver of the vehicle, we pray for him as well because making a mistake such as this cost someone’s life.  The driver has to carry that with them through the rest of their days, and that will be a tremendous burden to carry.  Would you please pray for the driver as well?  And last, but not least, the family of the motorcyclist needs our prayers as well.  They have lost a very important part of their family, and they need comfort now and in the days ahead.

At the end of the meeting, he thanked us and called us “family.”  Isn’t that really what we are supposed to be to each other, though?  We are all brothers and sisters in Christ, after all.

My life has been changed by working alongside this man, and I thank God for placing me here.