Words to Grow On

January 16, 2006

“Made in Pakistan”

By: 

JoAnn Shade

Some spiritual disciplines come easier to me than do others.  For example, I very much enjoy reading and studying, but I struggle to focus in prayer, and find that my mind often wanders as I bow before the Lord. 

The same is true of day-to-day tasks.  I enjoy cooking, but definitely don’t like ironing, only forcing myself to do it when an article of clothing is needed within the next ten minutes.  But it was in ironing my son’s shirt for church one morning that I had an insight that has helped me in my praying.

As I turned his shirt over to iron the collar, I happened to read the tag:  “Made in Pakistan.”  I began to think about that shirt, and about the woman who sewed it.  I wondered if she worked in a sweatshop, attempting to scrape out a living for her family.  Perhaps she was only sixteen or eighteen, newly- married or perhaps she was an old woman, doing piecework in her own home. 

I wondered if she had little ones, and if she was a Christian.  Did she face persecution?  And as I wondered, I began to pray for her, and for the hands that had sewn the fabric I was holding in my hands. 

I prayed for the women in Pakistan, who worship at The Salvation Army, remembering their presence at the International Meeting in Atlanta, a few years ago.  I thanked God for their faith, and especially for the way in which they came forward to pray, uncovering their heads as they knelt at the altar.  I asked the Lord to protect them in difficult circumstances, and to guide those who led their country so that they might live in safety and peace.

After that morning, I began to look for triggers for prayer.  When I drive past the high school, I pray for those who teach there, and for the young people in high school, who attend our church. 

When I receive a Christmas card, I pause to thank God for the one who sent it, and for the times our lives have intersected. 

“Made in China” reminds me to pray for a couple serving the Lord there, and for friends who adopted a child from China. 

In looking for new ways to prompt my prayer, I can better adopt Paul’s counsel to “pray without ceasing.”  And while my mind still wanders at times, and I still don’t like to iron, I’ve learned that:  in all things, God can be sought and found.