Personal Prayer Power Blog

 

I wanted to share with you and email I received from Angela Stroud, the mother of Staff Sergeant Justin Thomas with the 101^st Airborne out of

Ft. Campbell KY.  Angela writes:

 

Many missions were being performed by the A Company, 2-502 of the 101st Airborne (from

Fort Campbell, KY). Prior to leaving their camp, the leader, my son, Staff Sgt. Justin Thomas would lead the group in saying the Lord’s Prayer. Being a leader, he could not require his soldiers to pray nor ask them to lead the prayer because it might be interpreted as an order. Therefore, SSG Thomas simply said the prayer out loud himself. One day a mission was activated quickly as insurgents were approaching rapidly. The team was getting ready to move out and one soldier stopped and said, “SSG Thomas, you’ve not said the prayer.” Thomas hurriedly replied, “You say it for us.” “No, SSG Thomas, we need you to say it because we all come back and are not injured when you pray” was the soldier’s reply. Then it was done, mission stopped until the SSG prayed. You never know what impact one can have on the lives of others until God puts his thoughts into it. As SSG Thomas was growing up, there were prayers before meals, bedtimes and whenever the urge hit him. He was involved in prayers before sporting events throughout his life.  I never knew what an impact prayer had on him, until his soldiers relayed this message to me. SSG Thomas will soon be medically discharged after serving six years in the Army. His soldiers will be returning to the fields of

Iraq within the next few months. With his influence and his continued prayers for them, I’m sure they will take with them the power of prayer. God has blessed me with a wonderful son and I welcome him home with his wife and soon to be newborn, but I still say the prayers for all of our soldiers and veterans, at home and abroad. 

I wanted to share Angela’s email with you because it shows how our soldiers welcome our prayers.  The small, seemingly insignificant prayer habits we grow in our children and ourselves can someday impact may others in ways we can’t imagine. 

 

In my next blog, I’ll share more about SSG Thomas. 

 

Blessings!  Karen