Can you measure the worth of a sunbeam,
The worth of a treasured smile,
The value of love and of giving,
The things that make life worthwhile?…
Can you measure the value of friendship,
Of knowing that someone is there,
Of faith and of hope and of courage,
A treasured and goodly share?
For nothing is higher in value,
Whatever life chooses to send—
We must prove that we, too, are worthy
And equal the worth of a friend.
~Garnett Ann Schultz

Today I had the privilege of praying with three women I’ve been getting to know over the last year or so. We were praying for a girlfriend heading off on a new adventure. During the prayer time, I realized how extremely blessed I am to be surrounded by women like these. They don’t just encourage, advise, and hug. They are prayer warriors. They put on the armor of God and battle for me and my family. How awesome is that? How rare and beautiful! They are like rays of sunshine in what could be a dark and lonely life.

I have been incredibly blessed to have many wonderful friends. I have life long friends, high school friends, college friends, work friends, and church friends—not to mention really cool relatives. Today it hit me right between the eyes how extraordinary that is. I have people praying for me all the time. My name and the names of my family members are taken to the Lord in prayer regularly. I was awestruck and teary-eyed and amazingly humbled. I am so, so blessed.

I recently saw a Facebook post from an acquaintance celebrating the life of her recently deceased God father. She said that he had prayed for her every day of her life. Every day. Oh, my. Just think about that. I haven’t prayed for anyone or anything every day of my life. Not that I’m proud of that fact. But it is true. This man had taken his job of God father seriously.

I want to be a serious prayer warrior like that. I want to pray daily for my kids, for my God children, for my husband, my extended family, my girlfriends…. I want to pray with gusto, with confidence, with the power of the Holy Spirit rushing through me like electricity through a circuit. I want to be a ray of light in the lives of those around me.

There are people out there who have never had a prayer said for them in their whole life. How disastrously sad is that? I don’t want anyone I know to go without prayer. Just thinking about it makes my stomach hurt. I have so many beams of light in my life, how can I not share that with others? In my quest to let my little light shine, I am pumping up my prayer time. I am adding names to my prayer list. With God’s help, I can be a blessing to others like my girlfriends have been to me. One ray of light at a time.