"Visit"

He stepped off his pony,

And I said, come on in,

He shook my hand, and dust off,

I asked him where he’d been.

He said to that high desert,

A searchin’ for those cows,

Hired to find the remnants,

And gather in somehow.

And, yes, he said he’d found ‘em,

And though it was real tough,

He was able then to push ‘em,

Down the mountain, off the rough.

And closer to the country,

Where they could then find feed,

With the coming winter,

Have more of what they need.

I then thought of the pasture,

What the psalmist said heard tell,

Of cool and quiet water,

Found there in the dell.

And how the Lord restores us,

When the travelin’s been rough,

And how the grace gets stronger,

When even with the tough,

They’re drained from their old journey,

And need some sure relief,

Get back what has been stolen,

By that old devil-thief.

So after we drank coffee,

Ate a biscuit, one or two,

He said that he’d be going,

‘Cause he had things to do.

But before he left my cabin,

My old cowboy friend,

We prayed for God’s good blessing,

On the trail, for Him to send,

What the Good Lord promised,

His power and His grace,

For the day and for the future,

While running this life’s race.

He stepped upon his pony,

And lifted up his rein,

I could not know whether,

I’d see my friend again.

But thank God for the moment,

And thank God for a friend,

Good horses and good country,

And God’s grace until the end.

“Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion…” (Ephesians 6:18, NLT)

Praying consistently for one another as the Spirit helps and leads us, is an important part of winning spiritual battles. After Paul describes the spiritual armor needed to prevail against spiritual evil, he encourages the believers to pray in the Spirit all the time for each other. If we developed this habit, we would see more spiritual victory, both in ourselves and others. Put simply, prayer makes a difference, and we should be looking for and maximizing every opportunity to intercede for each other. Particularly Paul asks for prayer concerning having the right words to say to those who need to know Jesus, and to speak boldly as he explains the Good News. Let us not just talk about praying or make prayer requests. Let’s really pray for each other.

Lord, help us to pray for each other consistently, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Herman Walker, hermanwalker.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Herman, and God bless you.