Prayers are Deathless
By Nemaia Faletogo, Washington Conference evangelist
My mother, Laumua, was a ferocious prayer warrior, who carried her husband, children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren in prayer, often praying for us by name.
She was a friend of God and a strong believer in the power of prayer. Mom claimed the promises of Scripture, such as Isaiah 49:25, where God promises,
to contend with him, who contends with you and I will save your children
and Jeremiah 31:16-17, where God promises to bring the children from the
land of the enemy…and come again to their own border.
E.M. Bounds, an American author, attorney, and member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South clergy, wrote one of my favorite quotes on prayer which states that
Prayers are deathless. The lips that uttered them may be closed in death, the heart that felt them may have ceased to beat, but the prayers live before God, and God’s heart is set on them and prayers outlive the lives of those that uttered them; outlive a generation, outlive an age, outlive a world.
When I first read this quote, I immediately thought about the bold and audacious prayers of my late mother on behalf of our entire family. I personally believe that praying mothers are some of God’s most powerful weapons in His arsenal. Her faith was fully immersed and engaged in the intercessory ministry of Jesus.
She understood what it meant to agonize in prayer over her loved ones.
My wife and I had the blessing of caring for our mother in the latter years of her life. She was suffering from congestive heart failure, and by the winter of 2009 it had worsened to the point of placing her on hospice care. Hospice kept her under medication to ease the pain which meant she would spend most of the day sleeping. If she was awake, she would be too lethargic from the medication to spend time with family.
It was hard seeing her in this condition. However, around Christmas time, mom woke up and was extremely alert. She started talking and singing, and we were so excited to see that she was revived and energized again. She loved Lala, our daughter, who was three years old at the time, and they had a special bond. Mom called Lala over to her bed side to play with her as they always had been.
She told Lala that she loved her, then she hugged Lala and prayed a blessing over her.
Afterwards, Mom laid back down, and said she was going to take her rest now. She was ready to close her eyes. We were unaware that it was the last memorable moment we would share with her. She fell sleep peacefully, never to awaken again as she passed away the next morning.
Our family honored and buried our beautiful mother in January 2010.
Candace and I gave our hearts to Jesus and were baptized a few months later. Lala was also dedicated to the Lord in the same month. Lala would go on to live in the blessing of her grandmother’s prayers and upon her graduation from Auburn Adventist Academy, has decided to take up her calling in ministry and attend Walla Walla University to study theology to become a Chaplain! Mom didn’t see with her physical eyes the answers to her prayers but she claimed it by faith that God will restore her family.
Prayers are deathless and we praise God that He still honors the prayers of those who love Him.
God has been faithful in continuing to answer the prayers of our mom, even though she has been asleep in Jesus since 2010. We are the recipients of the blessings of God through those prayers. I’ve had the privilege and honor of being in ministry as a Bible worker, church planter, pastor, and currently as an evangelist for Washington Conference since 2014. God continues to faithfully answer my mother’s prayers, as I have had the privilege of baptizing many of our family members whom she prayed for and witnessing the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in their lives!
Regarding the prayers of the saints, here’s what it says in Revelation 5:8,
And when He had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.
God preserves the prayers of His people in golden bowls in heaven. Praise God for those that are no longer with us, but faithfully prayed for us.