Flash prayers
Flash Prayers
From “Celebration of Discipline,” by Richard J. Foster
“Flash Prayers” is an excellent idea developed by Frank Laubach in his many books on prayer. He purposed to learn how to live so that “to see anybody will be to pray! To hear anybody, as these children talking, that boy crying, may be to pray!, Flashing hard and straight prayers at people is a great thrill and can bring interesting results. I have tried it, inwardly asking the joy of the Lord and a deeper awareness of his presence to rise up within every person I meet. Sometimes people reveal no response, but other times they turn and smile as if addressed. In a bus or plane we can invite Jesus to walk down the aisles, touching people on the shoulder and saying, “I love you. My greatest delight would be to forgive you and give you good things. You have beautiful qualities still in the bud that I would unfold if only you will say yes. I’d love to rule your life if you’ll let me.” Frank Laubach has suggested that if thousands of us would experiment with “swishing prayers” at everyone we meet and would share the results, we could learn a great deal about how to pray for others. We could change the whole atmosphere of a nation if thousands of us would constantly throw a cloak of prayer around everyone in our circle of nearness. “Units of prayer combined, like drops of water, make an ocean which defies resistance.”