There’s a small group of ladies at Ptak Tower in Highlands who are their own Prayer Squad and help others without anybody even knowing about it. What they are learning as well, however. Is that it’s great fun and occasionally a surprise or two when doing it.
Each week, a friend of the ladies, some of whom don’t even know each other, brings a colorful little box with ten varied reasons to pray inside to each of them. For the next seven days, each of the women says a prayer a day, some even more, for the intentions included in the box.
Each has her own way of praying for the intentions. One simply prays every day perhaps without even opening the box; another reads each of the ten intentions every day. Some take one intention out at a time and pray for more than one a day. Some take two or three out a day, spending some time thinking about the intention or the person for whom they are praying.
And for some, it’s a connection with the past, a time for some happy memories, or the chance to remember someone they have not thought about in years. For some, it’s a happy coincidence even if you don’t think of things happening for a reason.
But for all, it’s fun and a delightful way to help others, whether they know them or not.
The intentions vary each week and can be as simple as “Say a Prayer for Someone whose last name begins with S.” Or “Say a Prayer for the last person you saw yesterday.”
Some intentions are local such as “Say a Prayer for someone on the third floor” or “Say a Prayer for the First Aid volunteers who want on the last emergency call.”
Some intentions make them think of people they have not thought of in years but who bring back happy memories. When one intention one week was Say a Prayer for a Teacher you had in grammar school,” it prompted one woman go back in memory decades to recall the thoughtfulness and love she had for her kindergarten teacher. For another, it was remembering a friend she had not heard from in years. After saying the prayer, she called her friend and enjoyed yet more time in a conversation with her.
There are prayers for the Pray-ers as well. Prayers like “Say a Prayer that today will be a happy day for me .” Or Say a Prayer that I can get to the store this afternoon.”
There are prayers for the military…the Sailor flying a helicopter, or the Marine getting through boot camp. Or the last woman from Highlands who joined the military. It doesn’t matter to the pray-ers who the specific person is or that they do not know them personally. They just know they are praying for someone else, and they feel confident they are helping.
There are prayers of thanks for everything from being able to get to the doctor today to “seeing my daughter and grandchildren yesterday.” There are prayers for improvement, such as saying a prayer that “I’ll be kind to the neighbor I don’t like” or a prayer that “my arthritis won’t hurt so much today.” There are even prayers for pets, be it the last one I say walking outside or that a child who wants a pet finally gets his wish.
There are prayers for specific people in the area who have died, who are ill, or who work in the local stores, or sit beside them in the same row at an event. There are even prayers for the management of Ptak Tower, and the janitorial team that keep it so clean.
It’s more than simply saying prayers for people or things they would not otherwise be thinking about. It’s taking a few minutes to sit back, relax and let their minds wander into areas they would not have thought of otherwise. And it’s a time for coincidence, perhaps, or praying for a particular person or thing because it’s on the little strip of paper in the colorful little box that reminds the pray-er of something or someone else.
Prayer? Coincidence? Happy Memories? Nostalgia? Never certain what it really is. But it does bring happiness to the Prayer Squad members who pay attention to it every day and eagerly look forward to the next week’s new intentions.
You can also Find ViniVidiScripto on the Following Platforms …
Prayer Squad Prayer Squad Prayer Squad Prayer Squad Prayer Squad Prayer Squad
