Be Bold in Your Prayers

Ferrill Gallaway, missions pastor at New Life Christian Fellowship in Jacksonville, Florida, takes prayer seriously.

And I mean seriously.

From hosting all-night prayer services to coordinating 21 days of prayer and fasting for his church — connecting with God is his passion.

As I listened to him talk about the importance of prayer in OneChild’s podcast, I found myself being challenged to step up my prayer life. I hope these insights from the podcast inspire you too!

Prayer Connects Us

First, Pastor Ferrill talks about why prayer is vital. He believes that it connects the kingdom of God together because prayer gives people who aren’t in the field a chance to unite with those who are there.

At New Life Christian Fellowship, the pastors love to talk about missionaries each week. This helps church members feel like they are part of the vision. And Pastor Ferrill does his best to be specific. He shares names, photos, information on the countries where missionaries are serving — and he gives people time to pray on the spot.

He’s witnessed how these prayer times inspire people – especially the younger generation — to pray more often and become missionaries. Right now, he can’t keep up with the number of young adults who are begging him to send them into the field.

How awesome that young people are excited about sharing the hope of Jesus with the world!

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Is your church interested in taking God’s love to the hardest places on earth? 

Explore partnership opportunities with OneChild!  

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5 Ways to Pray for Your Sponsored Child

When Pastor Ferrill talks about prayer connecting the kingdom of God together, I started reflecting on how special it is when we pray for our sponsored children. Even though we can’t always visit our children in person, our relationship with them grows stronger each time we pray.

 I always like to ask God to:

• Protect my sponsored child.
• Bless her with good health.
• Meet all of her needs like only He can.
• Fill her with encouragement and hope.
• Draw her into a loving relationship with Him.

If you sponsor a child, I hope this is your prayer for today. Your prayers make a difference!

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A child in poverty needs your love, encouragement, and prayers.

Sponsor a child!

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Listen For God’s Voice

In the podcast, Pastor Ferrill also shares how important it is to be listening for God’s voice — even when it’s a whisper.

He says that one night, he woke up abruptly, feeling God prompting him to pray for his team working in Amsterdam. Since he was only half awake, he offered up what he felt like was a “weak” prayer and went back to sleep.

The next morning, Pastor Ferrill received an email from the team’s director. At the very same moment that God had woken him up to pray, one of the team members was struck by a car. The accident could have been fatal, but his friend walked away without a scratch.

I also witnessed the power of prayer when my mom was in the hospital with COVID-19 for six months. My best friend said that God woke her up at 3 a.m. one morning telling her to pray for my mom’s health. So, she offered up prayers for strength and healing.

I soon found out that at the same time, the hospital staff had decided to put my mom on a ventilator, even though they believed she would never come off it alive. But at 3 a.m., her breathing miraculously grew stronger. They never had to put my mom on the ventilator, and she eventually got to come home.

I’m incredibly grateful that my friend listened to God’s voice! Her prayer for healing turned the situation around.

Here’s another example (This one’s more lighthearted!). One evening, I was chatting with a friend until midnight — back in my single days — about which guys at our church we were interested in dating.

The next morning at church, the pastor told the entire congregation that God had woken him up at midnight — the exact time that we were chatting — to tell him that two ladies in the church needed to forget about dating and get their focus back on God. Yikes! 😉

Here’s another example of the power of prayer …

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Lionel, a boy in Zimbabwe, was praying for a sponsor at the very same time that Wanda was praying for a way to demonstrate God’s love to someone in need. Discover how prayer miraculously united their hearts. Be inspired by Lionel’s heartwarming story and video!

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No Such Thing as Weak Prayers

It was interesting that when Pastor Ferrill was awakened in the middle of the night, he felt like his prayer was “weak.”

But even his simple prayer made a difference!

I love this verse because it shows us that God’s not interested in “flowery” prayers:

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” — Matthew 5:5-8

What a powerful message. As a writer, it’s easy to get caught up in the words while I’m praying.

But God just wants to hear our hearts.

Jemeul, a 10-year-old sponsored boy in the Philippines, understands this …

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If there’s one thing that Jemuel has learned at his Hope Center, it’s to PRAY with all his heart. One day, after praying for God’s help, his sponsor sent him a special gift, which made it possible for his family to buy milk, food, a mattress — and even a bicycle for Jemuel.

Read more about how God answered Jemuel’s prayers!

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Be Bold

Pastor Ferrill also reminds us that even when we feel weak, we can still be bold.

I love that Pastor Ferrill was transparent enough in the podcast to share that his two precious daughters were adopted. He inspired me to share our adoption story, too — a journey that started with a bold prayer.

I’ll never forget the moment I went into our future son’s room to pray. My husband and I had decided to start looking into adoption.

After reading Hebrews 4:16, which says, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need,” I figured I might as well be bold.

I made a detailed checklist of all my hopes and dreams about our future child. If we were going to adopt, I wanted it to be the exact child that God had chosen and saved for us.

When my husband got home, I asked if he wanted to add anything to the list. I was waiting for a meaningful answer. But he replied, “We have to add that the kid loves sports!” I rolled my eyes … but added it! 😉

Two weeks later, we got a surprise call from the director of a ministry saying that she had a little boy who needed a forever home. The director said that she never did this, but she felt like God was telling her that we were supposed to adopt the child.

Our son turned out to be everything we had prayed for — and more. He completed our family and brings us so much joy. God blessed us beyond anything that we could have imagined. And if you’re wondering, God even answered my husband’s prayers … our little guy loves sports!

It was also interesting that while I was creating my “bold” list that day, God gave me a vision of a toddler bed decorated with racing cars. I decided to keep that to myself.

Without knowing what God revealed to me, the minute we found out that a little boy was headed our way, my husband ran out and purchased a comforter covered with racing cars. 😊

Check out more insights from Pastor Pastor Ferrill and others in OneChild’s Podcasts.  Be sure to share the podcasts with your pastors to encourage them in their ministry!