Praying for strangers continues

After submitting the article, “A Stranger a Day,” for last Saturday’s Good News! column, we received a letter from a Visalia appraisal company in the mail. The note inside wasn’t an advertisement for a home appraisal, which I had expected. Rather it was a “thank you” note!

It was from the young lady I had written about in the article, the “stranger” we met on Friday the 13th! She had come from Visalia to look at a neighbor’s house which was for sale. However, she accidentally drove into the wrong driveway; and when she tried to turn around, ended up going into a ditch and driving up over a boulder with one wheel. The frame of the car was stuck on the boulder. She knocked at our front door, asking for help to push the car loose, but Al thought it was too much for us and suggested that she call a tow truck from Porterville.

Inspired by a story I had read in a magazine, I had been praying for God to show me a stranger for whom I could pray every day. The person who was stranded at our doorstep was stressed and worried about her car, unaware that someone was praying for her. Later, she must have researched our names and address. This is what she wrote:

Dear Al and Judy,

Wanted to send a note of thanks to you both for your help on 1/13. We seem to have to be cautious these days when opening our door to strangers so I sure am grateful you were trusting and so kind to me! It was a pleasure meeting you both. All the best and many blessings to you!

Her note confirmed the truth that God wants us to be aware of those around us and to be willing to pray for them, even people we don’t know. My friend, Leslie, emailed us after reading the article online. “So neat to see what God is doing with you in this new adventure. I read about this in Guideposts and what has happened to the woman who has started this in her life and has since written a book about this experience.”

Another email came from Ann Marie, who shared that she was shopping when two girls walked past her. She felt that she needed to pray for them. Although Ann Marie will never know the outcome of her prayer or the reason why there was a feeling of urgency to pray, the Lord directed her to do this for a reason. He knows.

God has continued to point out someone to pray for each day. It has been a learning experience as well as an adventure. Once I caught myself speaking abruptly to a person on the phone, a telemarketer calling in the middle of dinner. After she hung up, it occurred to me that perhaps she was my stranger. And there were days I completely forgot about it altogether, only thinking about it just before going to sleep…and then remembering to pray. But this is a commitment I want to keep, with His help.

Dear Lord, please remove the blinders from our eyes so that we might see the people around us as you see them, pray for them to turn to you in their time of need and serve them as you direct us. May your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

“How then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” — Romans 10:14-15 NIV


You can read more at Judy’s blog, goodnewswithjudy.blogspot.com.