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The Prayer of Faith: Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise.
(James 5:13)
This is part of my story, my testimony.
A few years back, when my oldest son was maybe one year old, I did not want to be part of this world anymore. I felt like the only thing keeping me hanging on was him, but I was so sad and miserable I found myself not caring, for I knew his dad was a good dad and he would be okay.
It eventually got so bad I knew I had to do something. I did not want to die, even though internally I did. I did not want to leave my baby, even though I felt like I could not go through life. My husband was gone at boot camp. My mom had just moved in; she was dealing with her own troubles. I was a temporary single parent. There was a lot of stress going on in my environment. I did not have a lot of support at the time. My job stopped paying me disability (I was out of work for carpel tunnel/tendonitis). There were so many things happening, and I could not control any of it.
I do not remember what snapped me out of this funk. Maybe something spoke to me without me realizing it.
Now, at this point in my life, my belief and faith were present but not strong. I was not attending church. I was not praying. I was just there. I thought I could reach out to a counselor, which I did eventually. But the thing that got me the most was I began to pray.
Praying changed my life. I got better. I felt better. Things worked themselves out. The Lord had heard me, and I knew it. I started praying for other things, my family, my friends, people I saw stopped or in a jam on the side of the road. I did not know if my praying worked but somehow, I felt that everything was okay once I just prayed. A few other times I experienced high stress or anxiety, praying saved me.
In James 5:13 it says “Are any among you suffering? They should pray.” I did. And it worked. Am I healed? No, but as the rest of the verse says “Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise.” Praise God for allowing me to feel better. Praise God for hearing me. I praise God for helping me.
I strive to be a better person, a righteous person, where someday my prayers can lift everyone around me.
With the help of my four year old’s prayer bookmark, I present to you my prayer:
Dear Lord, Thank you for today. Thank you for my family and friends. Thank you for our leaders and teachers. Thank you for those in power to make the best decisions for all of us. I pray you bless and watch over the sick and the ill; please help them heal. Thank you for creating me to be me. I pray to be better than yesterday. I pray to become the person you created me to be. In Jesus’s name I pray, Amen.
About Teresa Johnson
Teresa has been a member of St Thomas United Methodist Church since she moved to VA in 2018 with her husband and two amazing sons. She is currently the assistant director of the food pantry. She also works full time as a grooming salon manager for the Petsmart in Bristow.