In the middle of a particularly busy day of kids, homeschool, seminary homework, and too many undone house maintenance projects, a friend I have not seen in a long time came to my mind. It is frequent for me to think of people throughout the day, and typically I move quickly to the next thought, or maybe say a short prayer for the person. But this time I did what is rare for me, and I texted my friend.

My friend was in the middle of a problem. The train she was riding was in an accident. Everybody was fine, but the situation was chaotic, and it looked like she might not get where she was going. So I prayed for my friend that another way would come, and texted her my 20 second prayer. Eight minutes later she wrote again that my prayer had been speedy, and she was again on her way! Problem averted through a very short prayer!

I am so glad I did not ignore this moment!

Intercession does not have to be about long hours in the prayer room. It can also be listening and acting on the Lord’s promptings throughout the day. The Holy Spirit is placing small missions in our minds and hearts. Are we listening? Are we pausing to act? Sometimes the most important moments happen in the shortest slivers of time.

“The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results” (James 5:16 NLT).

A few days ago I received a nice email from a group of pastors in Pakistan requesting prayers for their ministries. It’s always exciting to me to intercede for Christians in other nations, especially when I have the personal contact to know how to pray.

Please pray with me for a mighty move of God in Pakistan:

• that God would strengthen these pastors and their ministries
• for supernatural protection for these congregations, especially Pastors S, B, Y, and N
• that they would be encouraged by the presence and power of God and the fellowship of the body
• that the Lord would connect them to many other Christians internationally
• that the Lord would continue to reveal Himself to them and give them wisdom
• that their prayer group would experience a new level of God's presence and revelation
• for a fresh outpouring of joy and boldness as they share the gospel
• for creativity in all their work
• for more and more people to recognize Jesus as Lord and love Him with their lives
• for the Christians in Pakistan to be connected and unified with each other
• for them to be blessed with both spiritual and physical provisions
• that God's work in this nation would extend to its fullest extent
• that the Christians in Pakistan would be an example to surrounding nations, encouraging them and propelling them in their faiths