On Prayer & My Friend Margaret

On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers.

—2 Corinthians 1:10–11

I’ve learned that when my friend Margaret is praying for something, that something is happening. When she prays at our table, she always begins: “Hey God, it’s us.” She doesn’t just pray at the table, of course—she prays when she walks and when she nurses Eloise. She wakes up in the night to pray and whispers prayers as she falls asleep.

Many years ago, she felt deep unease about a friend’s upcoming wedding. She prayed and prayed, and when she sensed she had to say something, she risked their friendship. The friendship broke. But then the engagement broke, too, and after a while the friendship was repaired, because even though Margaret knows things deeply, she holds them gently.

She prayed for me when I was desperate to conceive and carry a healthy pregnancy. She gave me a ring to remind me that she was praying, and when I see it in my jewelry box, I almost always weep, remembering the way my friend prayed for me, with confidence and hope I didn’t have.

Margaret is teaching me to pray. I’m thankful to have her around my table regularly so that her intimate, passionate, faith-deepening way of living and praying rubs off on me and gives me something to aspire to.