November 22 – “Dream prayer”

What a night.  For some reason I just couldn't get sleepy when we first went to bed.  I must have worked six or eight crossword puzzles trying to doze off.  I finally gave up around one and turned off the light.  That's when it hit me what was nagging at me.  My hip hurt.  Not an overpowering, sharp, debilitating pain.  Just a constant, typical of my rheumatiz' ache.  I tried pretty much every position possible searching for one that would make it go away, but alas, none could be found.  So around two I got up and moved to the couch so I wouldn't keep Chris up.  I did some more crosswords, and finally just determined to turn off the light and be as still as possible.    That's when the interesting stuff began.  Now, one of the things Chris and I both have committed to do is whenever we have a dream and we are able to recognize a specific person in it and remember enough of the dream when we wake up to remember the person – no matter how weird the dream was or how strange the context of the dream was – we will pray for that person.  The last time I looked at the clock was around 3:45.  That's when I got up and took another one of the pain pills the doc gave me.  From that point on until 5:30 I had a series of dream after wildly strange dream.    Each one was about someone different involved in totally different settings and dilemmas.  And though I can't remember the specifics of the settings or dilemmas, I remember being aware enough of what was going on to actually hear myself praying for the person.  I don't think I ever totally woke up at any point, and now I can't even remember all the people I prayed for last night, but I know that a lot of folks got lifted up in a highly unusual way last night and into the wee hours of this morning.  Hope it helped.   Ephesians 6:18 says, "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."   Father, please hear those prayers even if they were called up by some unusual means.  Amen.